I'll be your Knight
by Matrixaliesie
Summary: Laguna hires SeeD to investigate death threats, but they get way more than they bargained for. The deeper they go, the bigger it gets.
1. Prelude

Squall sat silently behind his desk typing away at his keyboard with his eyes fixed on his computer screen. Just as he had done every night for the past five years since becoming commander. Tonight was different from those nights. He worked at a much faster pace than normal. He wanted to be done soon so he could finally take his vacation.

He hadn't been able to take one, EVER. Though he had enough leave days saved up to the point where Rinoa had threatened bodily harm if he didn't use them to take her somewhere. He had always admired her ability when it came to keeping promises. She was tiny and unimposing, but she could go head to head with the best SeeDs and leave at least a few marks on them.

He was finally on the home stretch, finalizing the last of the SeeD requests when he heard his email alert ding. He knew that could only mean one thing, another request, he sighed and continued to work while trying to ignore his obsessive need to check the message.

 _"Last request."_ He promised himself, finishing the request.

he kept glancing at the flashing tab on his screen for his email as he tried his best to focus. His curiosity got the better of him though. He clicked on the tab and saw the email was from Laguna with a subject of 'HELP!' He let out an exasperated sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose.

 _"Great, just what I needed. Why did I have to look?"_ He thought, opening the email. The tone of the subject had absolutely nothing to do with the body of his email. " _I'm going to kill him."_

 _Squall,_

 _Hi Son! How have you been? Good I hope._

 _Anyway, I have a mission that I need taken care of as quickly as possible._

 _Please get back to me as soon as you can!_

 _Love,_

 _Papaguna!_

 _How does he manage to be such an idiot?!_ Squall thought rubbing his forehead. He decided it wasn't worth the headache that would come with replying to Laguna, so he continued with the request he was currently working on.

After about 10 minutes he finally finished all his work when his email alert went off again. He looked and saw that it was another email from Laguna.

 _"Does that man have any patience?!"_

This time the subject line read 'Follow-up'. He clicked on the email all it said was, _'I know you read my email...'_ Squall was surprised and slightly creeped out by the email. He decided to reply to this one, mostly because he was sure another one was to follow soon after.

 _Laguna,_

 _I am currently not able to draw up any contracts to send SeeDs out on a mission for at least two weeks. I apologize again for any inconvenience this causes you._

 _However, if you truly require SeeD assistance, you can contact Lt. Commander Quistis Trepe first thing in the morning._

 _Squall._

He waited a moment to see if Laguna would reply, and sure enough, he did _._

 _Squall,_

 _I know you'll be going on vacation, but I really need at least three SeeDs. It's extremely important, possibly even life or death!_

 _Honestly, I'd really need your help on this one._

Squall hit the reply icon again.

 _Laguna,_

 _History has told me, that statement is a lie._

It wouldn't be the first time Laguna said a mission was life or death. He'd once used a mission just to get Squall to have dinner with him and Ellone. Another time he'd even had to take Zell on a "life or death mission" that had turn out to be just a party that was being thrown for Laguna's birthday at the Presidential Palace.

 _Squall,_

 _I know I have lied about that in the past, but this time it is for real!_

With every email his frustration level grew.

 _Laguna,_

 _History has told that that is ALSO, a lie._

He started to wonder why he was still playing this game, all he had to do was get up and go home and it would be done. Except that Laguna also had his cell number, and he would just continue to beg either via text or calling him till he answered the phone.

Before Laguna could send another reply squall quickly typed another message.

 _Tell me what the mission is and I will consider it._

It took no time at all for Laguna to reply, it was almost instantaneous.

 _I knew you would come around son!_

Shortly after another longer message popped up.

 _The Princess of the Centran Empire is a friend of mine. A few weeks ago she told me that she was receiving death threats. She didn't give me much detail, but they have gotten progressively worse as time goes by. I'm afraid that her life may be in danger._

Squall was surprised that it seemed to be a legitimate mission, he just couldn't help but wonder why any of this was his or Laguna's problem.

 _Doesn't this fall under the jurisdiction of the King? Why are you trying to hire SeeD? Doesn't he have people taking care of this?_

 _Squall._

 _Well, technically, yes. But he doesn't believe that it's a serious as she claims._

 _Papaguna._

 _If she is receiving death threats, why doesn't he think it's serious?_

 _Squall._

 _It's to complicate for me to explain via email, so will you do it?_

 _Papaguna._

 _I never said I would do the mission personally; you already know that I'll be going on vacation with my WIFE. So no, I can't personally go on this mission, but I could probably send Zell and Irvine._

 _Squall._

 _I would only need your help for a week, which would still leave you with a week to spend with Rinoa!_

 _Plus, I will reimburse whatever you paid for your vacation plus pay you triple your normal salary._

 _Papaguna._

 _That is something you'll have to take up with my wife._

 _Squall._

Squall waited for a few minutes to see if Laguna would reply. When he didn't, Squall took it as a sign that he could finally go home. He got up from his desk and left after turning off his light, computer and locking his office door. He made it to the elevator when his phone buzzed with a text from Rinoa.

 _"I think you need to go on this mission."_ Was all it said.

 _"Why? Zell and Irvine can probably handle it."_ Squall replied.

 _"Trust me."_ She answered.

He sighed as he pressed the down button on the elevator and he received another text, this time from Laguna.

" _Be at the Presidential Palace tomorrow morning and we'll get started :-)."_

"Fuck." he muttered to himself.

He boarded the elevator and headed to the first floor to get Zell and Irvine.


	2. Mission Breifing

Zell was startled by the sound of heavy banging on his door; he glanced over at his alarm clock and the time was 11:15 P.M. he'd been asleep only 15 minutes.

With a heavy sigh, he got up out of his bed and stumbled over to unlock his door. When he opened it the light of the hallway was blinding, but he managed to focus enough to see a not-so-happy looking squall in front of him.

"Pack a bag; we've got a mission to do." He ordered. Zell gave him a very confused look. It had been some time since he had to go on a mission with such short notice.

"Right now?" Zell asked as he started to yawn.

"Yes, now. you have two hours to be ready and in the parking garage." Squall said firmly.

He started to walk away but stopped when Zell called after him.

"Wait, how long am I packing for and where?"

"One week, and we're going to Centra." The commander answered, then continued down the hall.

"Aren't you going on vacation?" Zell called again.

"I don't want to talk about it," Squall yelled back.

Zell nodded to himself, laughing slightly at Squall's irritation. He shut his door and turned on his light. _What the hell am I supposed to pack?_ He thought as he grabbed his duffle out of the closet. _I guess I'll just have to go with the essentials._ He reached into his closet and grabbed a random assortment of clothing without looking, only making sure he had enough to last a week. _I should probably take some potions and phoenix downs too, just in case I guess._ He thought to throw them in his bag as well.

When he finished packing his bag, he looked back at his clock and only five minutes had passed _._

 _Did he give_ _me two hours for this? Who does he think I am, Rinoa?_ Zell laughed at the thought.

It was no secret to anyone that Rinoa took forever to get ready for anything. The day she and Squall got married, she was over an hour late walking down the aisle. All because her makeup wasn't the exact way she wanted it. According to her it still wasn't perfect, but no one noticed or cared.

Zell sat back on his bed and decided that he would try and get some more sleep since he had no idea when he would get the chance after they left. He grabbed his alarm clock and set it to go off in an hour. Then he laid back on his bed and closed his eye; he left his light on so it would be easier for him to wake back up.

Just when he was almost asleep, there was another knock on his door. He opened his eyes and with a heavy sigh. He forced himself up and walked over to his door and opened it to find another unhappy face. Only this time it was Irvine.

"Man, what the hell is this about?" he asked, pushing past Zell and flopping down onto his bed.

Zell rolled his eyes and shut his door.

" _Sure just make yourself at home."_ He thought.

"What makes you think I know what's going on?" He asked pulling out his desk chair and sitting down.

Irvine shrugged and said, "Don't you usually know what's going on?"

"Besides, I thought he was going on vacation?" He continued covering his face with his cowboy hat.

"I guess something came up, what does it matter?" Zell asked getting slightly irritated with the unwanted intrusion.

"I was GOING to go to Trabia and see Selphie." He said sitting back up.

"Yeah, to break up with her," Zell snapped back. "again."

"What? You expect me to do it over the phone? I may be breaking up with her, but at least I'm not going to be a dick about it." Irvine laughed.

"Somehow, I don't think she'll see it that way. Besides, if you do it over the phone, she's less likely to inflict damage." Zell reasoned. Irvine shrugged in slight agreement.

"Any idea where we're going?" He asked returning to the original subject.

"Centra," Zell answered. Irvine got to his feet and was about to leave, but stopped right before the door.

"You don't think this is another one of Lagunas father/son forced bonding schemes, do you?" he asked.

Zell shuddered at the thought "Hyne I hope not. Last time I had to deal with drunk horny cougars grabbing at my ass all night. I still have nightmares." His face went pale as he reflected on the horrible memory.

Laguna had contacted Squall telling him that the presidential palace was under attack and that he should probably bring backup to help. Zell was the only one available to go. They rushed in expecting a fight, but it was only a party. Most of the party guests were women around Laguna's age. They were all interested in Zell because the tattoo on his face made him look like a "bad boy."

Squall didn't speak to Laguna for months. He only started talking to Laguna again because Rinoa wanted them to make up. She did make Laguna promise not to do it again, but who's to say whether he would be good at keeping it.

"I guess I should get my shit together," Irvine said walking out the door.

 _"That's the understatement of the year."_ Zell thought.

"How long are we going to be gone for?" he asked peeking back in.

"Squall said a week," Zell answered laying back down on his bed.

"Well, that explains why he looked so pissed." Irvine laughed as he closed the door behind him.

Zell closed his eyes to sleep once again, and before he knew it, his alarm was going off. He reached over to silence the annoying sound and sat up even groggier than before.

 _"I should have just stayed up."_ He thought, rubbing his eyes making them burn.

He got out of bed and stretched to try and wake himself up, but it didn't help, so he grabbed his bag and slowly walked out the door and made his way to the parking garage.

"Yo Zell, wait up!"

He stopped and turned to see Irvine trailing behind him with his duffle thrown over one shoulder and his Exeter in the other hand.

"Why do you think we have to leave so late?" Irvine asked when he caught up.

"Centra is pretty far away. We're probably on a set timetable." He answered with a yawn.

They continued to the garage in silence. When they arrived, Squall was nowhere to be seen. Zell looked down at his watch; they were a few minutes early.

"I guess we wait." He said throwing his bag on the ground and sitting on it. Irvine followed his lead, but as soon as he sat down, Squall appeared with his bag and the Lionheart.

"Let's go." He ordered heading over to one of the SeeD vehicles.

He popped the hatch on the back and threw his bag and weapon in and climbed into the driver's seat, Zell and Irvine did the same closing the hatch when both bags were loaded. Once they were in Squall started the vehicle and took off like a shot towards Balamb.

The ride was quiet, Zell was too tired even to care where they were going anymore, and was about to fall asleep when they pulled up the train station. Without a single word all three of them got out and grabbed their gear. Squall purchased the tickets, they boarded the train and headed for the SeeDs private cabin.

"Get some sleep," Squall said when they entered the cabin. That was an order that Zell was more than happy to follow, no questions asked.

"So, what's this mission all about?" Irvine asked. Zell was a little irritated with Irvine for even asking because now he had to wait for the answer.

"Honestly, I'm not 100% sure what it will entail. Apparently, the princess of the Centran Empire is receiving death threats. Laguna hired us to look into it." Zell was suddenly anxious about the legitimacy of this "mission."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?!" Zell snapped.

"Because I didn't have time to have this conversation before we got on the train," He answered calmly. "We need to be in Esthar by morning; Laguna is going to explain it in more detail." He continued.

 _"Like father, like son…"_ Zell thought.

"I'm going to get molested again…" he muttered sitting on one of the bunks and burying his face in his hands.

"I drew up a contract that says he has to pay all of us three times our average salary. Plus, a bonus if we were lured to Esthar under false pretenses. I'm going to require that he sign it as soon as we arrive at the palace."

Squall was going to make sure that it wasn't a repeat of the last visit. Zell felt a little better about going but still didn't want a repeat of the last time he was in Esthar.

"So this Princess?" Irvine asked, casually changing the subject. "Anyone know anything about her?" Neither Squall nor Zell was surprised that Irvine wanted to talk about a woman.

"There isn't a lot of public information available; the king keeps her pretty well guarded. She doesn't even go to public events with him, all anyone knows is that she's his baby sister." Zell answered laying down on the bunk. Irvine wasn't too satisfied with the answer.

"How old is she? Is she hot?" He prodded Zell for more information.

"I just said no one knows much about her; I have no idea how old she is or what she looks like." Zell snapped.

"Just drop the subject and get some sleep, Irvine," Squall said before Irvine could continue his prodding.

Irvine shook his head and sighed not very satisfied that he didn't get much information about her, and sat down on the sofa and covered his eyes with his hat. Squall sat at the other end of the couch and sank backward and closed his eyes. They all jumped when the train left the station, but then relaxed as the train moved at a steadier speed and they all fell asleep.

* * *

Zell awoke to the sun shining on his face; he was still tired, but he felt ready to get up and be a functioning adult. He sat up, but it wasn't easy as the train was still in motion. He stretched as he got out of his bunk.

He had to laugh when he saw Squall and Irvine still asleep. Squall had his head on Irvine's lap, and Irvine was resting his head on Squall's hip. Zell quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket to snap a picture.

 _"This is too perfect; Rinoa is going to love this!"_ He thought as he sent the picture in a text to Rinoa.

He slid his phone back into his pocket and leaned over the couch to look out the window, all he saw was an ocean with the faint coastline coming slowly into view. They were almost to Esthar. He was still nervous about going, but he trusted Squall to make sure it wasn't history repeating itself.

He decided that he would freshen up a little before they got to Esthar and made his way to the bathroom to grab a quick shower.

* * *

Squall woke with a start when he heard a door close; his eye slowly fluttered open in the blinding light. His body felt stiff and cumbersome, and he shifted to try and loosen up, but he found he could barely move. Most of the weight was focus on his side and looked around to see what was on top of him when he noticed that his head was resting on someone's lap. Then he felt movement on his side, and he pushed against it.

"Come on baby don't be like that…" he heard Irvine mumble and felt a hand wrap around his waist and hold him tighter.

 _"Nope_." Squall thought and threw his elbow to the side to try and get leverage to get up and made contact with Irvine's nose, causing him to jump up and grab his face.

"What the fuck babe!?" Irvine shouted in pain.

"I'm not your babe." Squall said harshly.

Irvine quickly looked around for Zell but didn't find him.

"I hope Zell didn't see us like that," Irvine said as Squall's phone buzzed with a new text message.

 _So is the real reason you had to go on this mission? So you could leave me for Irvine? lol_

 _-Rinoa_

 _What?_

 _-Squall_

Rinoa only replied with the picture of Squall and Irvine sleeping on one another.

"Zell!" Squall yelled, and heard laughter come from the bathroom.

"What's up?" Irvine asked. Squall simply showed him a message from Rinoa. He threw his head back with a sigh. "Dick..." he muttered under his breath.

Zell appeared from the bathroom laughing.

"It could be worse. At least I only sent it to Rinoa." He said.

Squall was but to object when chimes sounded over the train's intercom.

 _"Arriving in Esthar in fifteen minutes, passengers, please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark."_

* * *

The train pulled into the station shortly after and the trio set off for the presidential palace. It took a few years to get Esthar back to the way it was before the lunar cry, and Squall was grateful for the transportation tubes which moved them around in no time at all. They were greeted by Kiros as soon as they entered the palace complex.

"You are much more punctual than your father!" He laughed as he led them to Laguna's office.

"I take pride in that fact," Squall replied.

Laguna, as usual, gave them an overly excited greeting, wanting to give everyone hugs. Squall, of course, wanted none of it.

"Sign this." He said when Laguna offered him a hug.

"What is it?" He asked examining the documents.

"It's our contract. It includes everything you agreed to via e-mail, along with a clause that covers us just in case you've decided to pull your usual antics." Squall explained calmly.

Laguna gave him a hurt look. "Do you think I would do that again?" he asked.

"Yes, "Squall replied dryly, "Once you sign it you can go over the mission you hired us for."

Laguna sighed and quickly signed it without reading and gave it back to him, Squall thanked him and handed a copy to Kiros.

"The mission?" Squall asked.

"Well, it's pretty much exactly what I already told you, Princess Aliesie is receiving death threats, and we need to find out who is doing it and stop them before she gets hurt." He explained.

"Why doesn't the king take care of it?" Zell asked.

"Well, there were only a few that the king has been able to see, and as far as he knows the threats have stopped. So he doesn't see it as a cause for concern." He answered.

"Why is that? Hasn't she told him?" Irvine asked.

"She has, but it's a little more complex than that, every threat since the ones he did see…disappeared…"

"Disappeared?" Squall asked slightly stunned. "How?"

"That's part of what we have to find out because the threats were all written on her bedroom walls… In blood…" Laguna received shocked looks from all three of them.

"The royal palace has fantastic security; no one knows how anyone could have even gotten close to her bedroom. So the king thinks that she is using these threats as a way to get attention, and now she has to see a therapist every day." Laguna explained, Squall was happy that this was a legitimate mission, but it was a very confusing thing to have to handle.

"So, why is this any of your business?" he asked.

"Because she asked me for help." He answered.

"Alright then, why do we only have a week to do it?"

"Because we have to get it taken care of before the king gets back from the trade negotiation with the world council!" Laguna answered with a cheesy smile.

 _We?_ Squall thought. "Don't you have to go to that as well? What's all this WE business?" Squall asked.

"Nah, Kiros is going to take care of that, I get too bored with those things. Not to mention you won't be able to get into the palace without me with you!"

 _"What a pain."_ Squall thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So it is a forced father/son bonding trip," Irvine muttered quietly to Zell.

Zell rolled his eyes and asked, "Do you know what kind of equipment we're going to need?"

Laguna looked at him like a deer in headlights; he had no idea.

"Well I guess we will have to figure it out when we get there!" he answered after a moment.

Squall shook his head in disbelief.

 _"Unbelievable."_ He thought.

"Ok, I'm going to address the very obvious elephant in the room here!" Irvine announced loudly.

 _"What elephant?"_ Squall and Zell both thought.

"Laguna, how old is this princess and what does she look like?" Irvine continued moving to the center of the room.

Horrified looks came from everyone in the chamber except Laguna who just looked dumbfounded by the bluntness of his question.

"IRVINE!" Squall scolded.

"C'mon, I can't be the only one who was thinking it!" he defended.

"You were the only one thinking it," Zell said.

"She's 19, and it doesn't matter what she looks like because now I'm not going to allow you to be alone with her," Laguna answered defensively.

"Oh, come on Papaguna! She and I could be meant to be together forever!" Irvine said dramatically.

Laguna shook his head with disappointment. "Let's just get going." He said ignoring Irvine completely.


	3. Princess

The Ragnarok touched down on the rough Centran landscape outside the walls of a small city, sparse vegetation dotted the landscape around them and monsters could be seen roaming in the distance. Squall, Laguna, Zell and Irvine made their way down the steps of the Ragnarok with all their gear in hand escorted by two Estharian soldiers. It was humid, more humid than they were expecting.

"Would you like us to escort you to the palace Mr. President?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Nah, I'm sure we'll be alright on our own." Laguna answered waiving them off. They hesitated a moment before saluting and returning to the interior of the ship.

"See you in a week boys!" he called after them. The engines on the ship roared and dust flew all around to the point everyone had to cover their faces.

When the ship was gone and the dust settled, Squall finally asked "So if security is so good at the palace, how do you plan to get us in?"

Laguna smiled at him and said. "I plan on just walking in the front door."

Squall sighed. "Please tell me you're joking." He said.

"No. I'm the president of Esthar with a long standing friendship with the king. I'm able to come and go as I please, just like the king can do in Esthar." Laguna explained, heading towards the city gates. "Though he may not be happy about me showing up without telling him while he's away…" he added.

 _How is it you can manage to be this reckless all the time?_ He thought following Laguna into the city.

Laguna made his way quickly and effortlessly through the city streets, making it quite obvious he'd been there plenty of times.

"Hey, anyone else have a weird feeling?" Zell asked as they turned down another street.

"Weird how?" Squall asked.

"I don't know how to explain it; I have this weird sensation all over. Like we aren't moving fast enough." He said making an uncomfortable face.

"You ok man?" Irvine asked. "You look really pale."

"I'm not sure what's going on; my heart is racing." Zell said picking up his pace.

"Dude how much caffeine have you had?" Irvine asked.

"I haven't had any." Zell answered. Everyone gave him a concerned look.

"Let's just keep going, maybe I'll feel better when we get to the palace." Zell said trying to calm his nerves that were currently on edge. Everyone else decided to shake off what he said and continue.

Squall kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings as they continued toward the palace.

When they arrived at the gates all but Laguna were amazed at the beauty of it. It looked as though it had started out as only a castle tower but was added onto as time went on with more modern architecture. From the gate it had a single road paved with stone and lined on either side with small saplings, and colorful flowers in giant clay pots.

Zell took a deep breath and finally started to feel somewhat normal again now that they were closer to the palace.

 _Why do I feel so strange?_ He thought to himself rubbing his face.

You don't look so good man, you sick?" Irvine asked. Before Zell could answer they heard the gate guard call out to Laguna.

"President Lorie! Welcome, the princess said we should be expecting you," The gate guard said saluting to Laguna as they all approached him. His gaze shifted to the other three and gave them a wary look. "We weren't aware you'd be bringing guests with you sir…" he said cautiously.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, it was kind of last minute planning on my part. My son and his friends wanted to spend the week with me so I figured it would be alright if I brought them along." He replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

The guard smiled at him "I'm sure it will be alright, but,"

"But what?" Squall asked.

"Uh, well," the guard stammered.

"Can you open the gate for us now?" Laguna asked.

"Uh…Yes Sir…but, they will have to leave their weapons here with us." The guard said gesturing to Squall and Irvine.

"I'm not too comfortable with that." Irvine said gripping his Exeter tighter.

"Weapons are not permitted on palace grounds; king's orders." He explained. "We will return them to you if you leave."

Squall rolled his eyes and threw a cold look at Laguna. _So now we're going to be sitting ducks if someone attacks?_ He thought.

"It'll be alright boys, just hand them over so we can get going." Laguna said with a cheerful tone. With a heavy sigh and a dark look directed Laguna's way, Squall reluctantly handed the guard his lionheart, Irvine followed his lead and handed over his Exeter.

 _You're walking a fine line with this Laguna…_ Squall thought.

Once their weapons were safely in the guard house the gate slowly opened with a loud buzzing sound.

"Welcome to the Royal Palace Mr. President." The guard said with a salute. Laguna thanked him and they made their way down the road to the palace.

"You could have told us we were going to be unarmed while we're here." Squall said harshly.

"It will be fine." Laguna said with a smile. "I have it all worked out!"

"care to share with the rest of us?" Irvine asked.

"All in due time boys."

Laguna's cheerful mood regarding the situation was becoming a painful headache for Squall. He didn't like not knowing all the details. Especially regarding time sensitive missions.

 _What the hell is wrong with me?_ Zell thought not paying attention to what everyone else was saying.

They made their way to the large wooden double door, there was a guard posted on either side both of whom saluted Laguna as he got closer and opened the door for them. As they entered the large stone foyer and were greeted by what looked to be a maid who bowed to Laguna and said "Welcome back Mr. President, your room is ready if you would like to freshen up."

"That sounds great!" he replayed setting his bag on the floor.

She bowed to Laguna and then notice Squall, Irvine and Zell. "Oh…" she said slightly confused.

"I'm sorry sir, we don't have rooms ready for your guests." She continued.

"That's alright, they can share with me for now till you have some ready!" Laguna said cheerfully.

"As you wish sir, please follow me." She said leading them up one of the stair cases. Laguna picked his bag back up and followed her up the stairs along with Squall, Irvine and Zell trailing behind.

Zell was lost in thought; his legs were moving without really knowing where they were taking him. His entire body felt numb, his heart was still racing out of control. When he finally took notice of his surroundings he was completely alone.

"Guys?" he called, but got silence in return. He sighed and walked down the hall in the direction he was facing till he came to an intersection in the hall, but he had no idea which way to go. So he decided to just pick a direction and follow it and if he found someone he would ask how to get to Lagunas room.

He followed the long hallway he choose until he reached what looked to be a dead end, but on closer inspection he discovered it was a door leading out onto a terrace.

 _I guess I'll just see if anyone is out here._ He thought as he walked out onto the terrace. He looked around and saw furniture set up on the far end and a woman sitting on one of the couches. He was suddenly more aware of how fast his heart was beating when he saw her.

"Hello?" he called taking a few steps closer to her.

She didn't respond. He took a few more steps and tried to get her attention again, and again she was silent. He made his way closer to her and found her asleep.

He took a second to take in her features; she looked a lot like porcelain doll; Wearing a white cotton sun dress, long black hair hung in loose curls over her shoulders. her skin was fair with hues of pink on her cheeks and the same with her lips. He was mesmerized by her, the closer he got to her, the closer he felt too normal since arriving in the city. The only thing was that his heart continued to beat harder and harder till it was all he could hear. He reached out to her and lightly shook her shoulder. As soon as he made contact with her he felt an electric charge surge through his entire body and he felt completely normal again.

 _What the hell is going on with me?!_ He thought rubbing his face. He jumped when he heard a scream, and realized that it was the woman screaming.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" he said quickly. Holding his hands up defensively, and she stopped screaming.

"Who are you!?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"My name is Zell, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you!" He said defensively.

"What are you doing here?!" she was obviously terrified and for good reason, she was woken up by a strange man with a face tattoo.

"I promise I won't hurt you, I'm here with President Laguna." He said hoping she wouldn't scream again and alert any nearby guards.

"President Laguna?" she questioned, seeming to relax a little at the mention of his name.

"Yes, I got separated from him and my friends and somehow I ended up out here." He explained. "Is there any chance you know where his room is?"

She nodded cautiously. "That's great, could you show me?" he asked grateful that someone knew where he was.

"I suppose I can…" She said quietly, standing up.

"Thank you."

She led him back down the hall he had been in previously, keeping a cautious eye on him.

"I'm sorry I never asked you your name…" Zell said trying to break the awkward silence between them. She didn't answer, but walked at a fair distance from him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Do you work here?" he asked still trying to start a conversation. She just gave him a confused look and shook her head no, staying silent. "Alright then." He said quietly.

He noticed a few things about her while they walked. Other than the fact that she was refusing to talk to him, she was short and slender and her eyes were an intense shade of blue that he couldn't help but keep staring at. She noticed him staring at her and gave him a cold look making him look away.

Before long they had arrived at what Zell assumed was Laguna's room, she reached out and knocked on the door, movement could be heard inside and the door swung open.

"There you are!" Laguna said with a smile.

"Sorry I got lost." Zell said making his way into the room. It was huge. At the center of the room was a very large four post bed with heavy looking blankets and lots of pillows covering it, the wall was one giant window with a door leading to a balcony, and a there was a small sitting area where Squall was already working away on his laptop.

"I'd probably still be lost if it weren't for this girl here." Zell continued.

"Zell, do you know who this girl is?" Laguna asked putting his arm around her.

Zell shook his head.

"This is Princess Aliesie." He informed him.

Zell's eyes got wide and it caught the attention of Squall and Irvine as well.

"Thank you for your help Princess!" Zell said bowing his head. She let out a soft chuckle at his sudden formality.

"You're welcome," She said using the same quiet tone. "I prefer to be called just Aliesie though."


	4. Writing on the wall

"It's lovely to meet you Aliesie!" Irvine said attempting to kiss her hand, but she quickly pulled away from him looking uncomfortable at the gesture.

"I'm sorry, but I don't like being touched by people I don't know…" she explained.

"Well, then I guess we will have to get to know each other better," Irvine said with a wink.

"I'm not very comfortable with that either…" she said giving him a slightly disgusted look.

"Irvine, you've set yourself a new record, she rejected you in less than a minute," Squall said calmly still typing on his laptop. Irvine was the only one who didn't at least smile; Zell, however, found it hilarious.

"I believe you've received the much rumored 'Squall burn,' how does it feel?" Zell asked jokingly.

All he said was: "shut up," Before he took a seat on the couch next to Squall.

"Well, that was Irvine, You've already met Zell and captain grumpy over there is Squall," Laguna said introducing everyone to Aliesie.

"Hello everyone." She murmured with a wave. She jumped when Squall slammed his laptop shut.

"Alright, Princess let's get started with this." He said getting to his feet.

"Started? With what?" She asked confused.

"With the investigation, we were hired for." He answered walking over towards her. "Do have any enemies that you know of?"

"How would I have made enemies? I'm not permitted to leave the palace grounds." She answered.

"Obviously you must have some if they are threatening your life." He said accusingly.

"That doesn't mean I know who they are…" she whispered.

"How do you expect us to help you if you don't tell us anything?" Squall snapped letting his frustration with the situation get the better of him.

"I never expected your help, I am not the one who hired you, and you can't expect me to know everything that's happening. Besides if I knew who was behind this, I would stop them!" she said raising her voice. Their little argument quickly turned into a stare down, and they weren't getting off to a good start.

"Ok, you two that's enough! Squall you can't expect her to know everything that's going on, it's pretty obvious this isn't easy for her." Laguna said sternly getting in between the two of them. "And Aliesie, please try to answer any questions they ask as best you can, any information you might have would be very helpful in finding out who is trying to hurt you." He continued in a sweeter tone.

They both nodded and averted their stares "Whatever…" they said in unison.

"Geez, they act like brother and sister…" Zell muttered to Irvine who nodded in agreement.

"What about these messages show up on her walls?" Zell suggested. Everyone's attention went to Aliesie awaiting an answer. "They usually appear while I'm sleeping, it doesn't seem to matter if its day or night."

"How many people have access to your room?" Zell asked, returning the attention to Aliesie yet again.

"Once I received the first threat, no one was allowed anywhere near my room." She answered. Everyone but Laguna looked confused, all of this was not news to him, what no one could understand was how was this happening? Why was it happening? Already they were off to a very slow start, and it didn't seem like it would pick up speed anytime soon.

"So these messages disappear? How long does that take?" Squall asked in a more reasonable tone than before.

"I'm not sure; no one else seems to be able to see them." She answered, and squall was now thoroughly confused.

"You still see them on your walls?"

"Yes." Laguna was even shocked to hear that and wondered why she never told him that.

"Show us," Squall said directly. She nodded in reply and turned to exit the room and lead them down the long corridor to her bedroom.

She opened the door to reveal an even larger bedroom than Lagunas and had an even bigger four post canopy bed, with red and gold drapes hanging from it. Instead of a window that took up the entire wall only one glass door was present on her wall that led out to a small balcony covered in ivy. It was evident the door was not opened for some time. Squall was the first to enter the room followed by Irvine and Laguna with Zell being the last to join, Aliesie remained in the doorway as they looked around her room for any information that could help them.

"Holy fuck!" Zell exclaimed as he entered the room. Everyone gave him a confused look, but Zell's gazed zeroed in on Aliesie. "How can you sleep in here?" he asked. The level of confusion rose even more.

"What are you talking about Zell?" Irvine asked.

"You guys don't see all this?" he asked gesturing all around him.

"See what?" Squall asked.

"You can see it too?" Aliesie asked quietly.

Zell gave his attention back to her. "It's pretty hard to miss."

"How can you guys not see it?!" Zell asked the others.

"Zell I think the real question we should be asking, is how can you see it, and the rest of us can't? Whatever it is." Squall said.

"All the threats she's received are still on the walls. It's pretty terrifying actually." Zell explained still looking all around the room.

"I was starting to think I was going crazy for still being able to see them…" Aliesie whispered.

Laguna gave her a very concerned look as he made his way to her side and put his arm around her again. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?" he asked.

"Like I said, I just thought I was going crazy." she answered.

"So why can only the two of you see them?" Irvine asked feeling just as confused as everyone else. That was just one of the many questions that no one knew the answer to, and so far that was all they had were questions. Squall became increasingly frustrated at the fact that more questions surfaced and not a single answer came to light.

Squall let out a loud sigh of frustration. "Is there anything you can tell us that might help this along?" he asked. She shook her head no, he sighed again and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe it's magic…" Zell muttered, drawing Squalls attention. "Think about it, she was the only one who could see the messages, and unless someone has some weird invisible ink, magic is our only option." He explained. Squall was impressed at his logic in the matter and nodded in satisfaction as one question seemed to be answered, but it raised yet another.

"So if it's magic that makes it visible to her and no one else, why can you see it?" Squall asked crossing his arms. Zell took a moment to think but came up empty, so he shrugged and shook his head wordlessly saying that he had no clue.

 _I suppose it's a start…_ Squall thought.

"So what now boss?" Irvine asked sitting in one of the chairs in the small sitting area and propping his feet up on the table.

 _I have no clue._ He thought.

"Our only option is to find out who can use magic to do something like this." He answered after a few minutes of thinking.

"Well, we have SeeDs all over the world who can use magic," Irvine stated.

 _Not like this, we don't if we did, I'm sure I would have heard about them._ He thought.

"This is way out of a SeeDs skill range," Zell said seeming to read Squall's mind. _Maybe I should have just sent Zell since he's the only one that appears to be able to put all these pieces together._ He thought.

They all remained quiet as they all arrived at the same conclusion but no one wanted to say it out loud. It was painfully obvious they were dealing with a sorceress and a skilled one at that. Squall had a sinking feeling that this was not going to be as easy as he'd hoped.

"Alright, so far, our only option is to ask around and see if anyone knows of a sorceress in the area." Squall decided after a moment.

"How do you want to do this? Divide and conquer? Go to town asking questions?" Zell asked excited to get started. Squall nodded in agreement. "Alright let's do this!" Zell yelled as he began to punch and kick at the air.

"Someone should stay with our fair princess here, to make sure she's safe," Irvine said suggestively, as he got back to his feet and walked towards Aliesie who raised an eyebrow at his advance.

"You're, probably right," Squall said reluctantly agreeing and making Irvine smile. _But it won't be you that stays Irvine._ He thought.

"Zell, you're staying behind to protect Aliesie."

"What?!" Zell and Irvine cried in unison.

"Zell, you're the only one who would be able to do anything in defense of the princess on palace grounds, not to mention you're able to see the type of magic that she can see which puts you at more of an advantage than the rest of us. Irvine, Laguna already said you are not going to be allowed alone with her." Squall explained, Zell accepted his argument and reluctantly agreed. Irvine, however, was not at all happy with the decision.

"Are you trying to kill me Squall? You're making me go against my very nature of protecting a damsel in distress, besides I'm fairly sure you might be keeping me from my soulmate here…"

"You call every woman your soulmate Irvine, you called Rinoa your soulmate before too." Squall said sternly.

"And she could have been, but you didn't let me find out!"

"My decision is final Irvine. We'll get started in an hour." Squall said leaving the room.

"I assume you'll be coming with us?" he asked Laguna.

"Of course!" he answered cheerfully. Squall rolled his eyes as he exited and made his way down the hall to Lagunas room.

* * *

"So I guess you and I are stuck together," Zell said with a laugh.

"I suppose we are," Aliesie replied listlessly; they sat together in a parlor on the main floor of the palace; Zell fidgeted in his chair as Aliesie sat across from him absentmindedly working away on whatever she was doing on her large pad of paper.

"So what do you do for fun around here?" He asked getting to his feet to look around at the paintings on the walls.

"You're looking at it." She said in the same lackluster tone as before.

"You spend a lot of time alone huh?" she didn't answer just cast him an irritated look before sighing and returning to what she was doing.

"What are you working on?" he asked as he attempted to look over her shoulder, but she quickly slammed her pad of paper face down onto the table in front of her before he could catch a glimpse of what she was doing.

"It's none of your business…" she said giving him a sharp look.

"Sorry." He said defensively. He went back to looking at the paintings all around the room, before sitting back in his chair across from Aliesie.

"How is it, that you are not bored 24/7?" he asked throwing his head back in exasperation.

"I'm sorry I'm not entertaining enough for you." She said sarcastically. He allowed himself a brief glare at her, before brushing off her statement.

"I have to do something, or I am going to lose my mind." He said after a few moments.

"Do you think you could be quiet in the process?" she asked still totally enveloped by what she was doing. Zell sighed and didn't say anything, but began to fidget even more and apparently that made more noise than his talking. Aliesie closed her pad of paper and slammed it on the table in frustration.

"Do you even know how to be quiet?" She asked folding her arms and leaning on the table.

"Obviously not." He said teasingly with a smile. He couldn't help but admire the stern look on her face. If she hadn't looked so much like a doll he might have been intimidated by it, but all it did was make him smile.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked narrowing her eyes. _You're cute when you're angry_. He laughed internally. He had a feeling if he said that out loud she might blow up on him, not that she was likely to inflict any real harm, but there wasn't much point in it.

"It's nothing." He said still smiling at her. She was not happy with that answer and started to glare at him, but all he did was stare back and smile, which just made her even angrier.

"Stop smiling!" she said trying to hide the fact that it was starting to make her laugh.

"You stop smiling." He said teasing her.

"I'm not smiling!" she said trying to force a frown, but it was no use he was making her smile with his antics, and that just made her mad.

"Don't laugh." He said in a slightly more serious tone; she had to look away from him at that point. Zell had to laugh; he had apparently cracked her shell with his silliness. _This must be how Laguna gets women._ He thought.

"I don't like you right now." She muttered quietly.

"I think you do, and you just don't want to admit it." He said in a flirtatious manner.

"Please stop." She begged attempting to sound serious. He smiled at the adorable pouty look on her face and reluctantly agreed.

"How long have you known Laguna?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"All my life." She answered in a matter of fact manner. "What about you?" she asked.

"Since about five years ago, he hired us to put his plan of beating Ultimecia into action." He explained but then let out a brief chuckle. "Honestly I think he did it so he could meet Squall."

"Why would he do that? Squall doesn't seem like the kind of guy you'd go out of your way to meet." Zell had to laugh a little at her statement and at the fact that he managed to break the ice with her finally.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it had to do with the fact that Squall is Laguna's, son." Her reaction was not what he expected; he thought it was common knowledge that Squall was Laguna's, kid, but she seemed to be the one person who didn't know. What was more shocking than that was Laguna hadn't seemed to tell her at all, considering how much time they seemed to have spent together, that appeared to be a pretty big thing for him to keep secret from her. "He never told you?"

"I guess it never came up," she asked. "He's Raine's son?" Now he was confused; she knew about Raine but not Squall. _What is going on here Laguna? He asked himself_.

"Can I ask what your relationship with Laguna is?" _Please don't be his mistress,_ he silently begged.

"Well, he calls himself my 'father figure.'" She answered.

"And, what do you call him?" he followed up.

"I've pretty much just always called him Papaguna." She answered.

 _So you're the one who started that,_ he thought.

Zell breathed a sigh of relief, not that Laguna probably couldn't get a young girl to be his mistress, he was just glad that this one seems to be unattached to him in that way.

"Excuse me Princess, but Dr. Miri is here to see you." One of the maids announced after entering the parlor and bowed.

"Thank you, you may go." She told the girl who bowed once more before exiting. Aliesie rolled her eyes and let out and exasperated sigh.

"Not a fan I take it?" Zell asked laughing at her irritation.

She shook her head no. "All she does it tell me I'm crazy for seeing messages on my walls, and I'm pretty sure, one time she told my brother to have me committed."

"That's awful." _Why is he still allowing her here?_ He thought.

"I'm pretty sure the only reason she's still allowed to see me is the fact that she's sleeping with him." She said seeming to read his mind as she got up from her chair.

 _So the king is the one with the mistress, interesting._

"Are you coming?" she asked.

"Where?"

"Anywhere away from Dr. Miri." She said opening a French door that lead out to a garden overlooking a lake. She quickly made her way into the grass heading towards the lake; Zell easily kept up with her.

"Don't you think you should put shoes on?" he asked noticing her bare feet.

"I'm not very big on shoes, besides if I go back to my room, I risk running into Dr. Miri." She said jumping off one of the short retaining walls that seemed to create a staircase effect along the hill.

"Do you want hookworms? Because I'm pretty sure that's how you get hookworms…" he said in a scolding tone. She stopped and turned to face him.

"Does it look like we are in an area that would be plagued with hookworms?" she asked. Zell decided it would be best to concede his argument, and gestured for her to lead the way.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Somewhere no one will look for me." She answered.

"Cryptic. Is this place secret?" he asked trying to flirt again.

"It's not a secret; just no one looks for me there." She explained. She led him down to the lake and then onto a dirt path that was lined with tall trees and led around to the other side of the lake. At the end of the road was a wrought iron gazebo covered in ivy vines and surrounded by bright, colorful flowers. Inside the gazebo was a set of wrought iron chairs and a small table overlooking the lake and boasting an incredible view of the palace.

"This is unbelievable…" Zell said admiring the view from the gazebo. "Why would no one look for you here? This is the first place I would think to look!" he asked with a little too much passion.

"Everyone seems to forget that it's here, my mother used to bring me here all the time before she died." She said solemnly. Zell didn't know what to say to her; he was aware that it had been a few years since the queen's death, but it was obviously something that stuck with Aliesie. He couldn't even imagine what he would do if he ever lost his Ma.

"So what do we do now?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Wait here till she leaves." She answered looking out over the lake.

"When will that be?"

"Probably around dinner time, so we've got some time to kill."

Zell looked down at his watch; it was only two in the afternoon. "I guess there are worse ways I could be spending my time." He said absentmindedly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her smile at him making his heart do a summersault, and he felt a strange pull on his entire body. He didn't know why but he felt like he needed to be closer to her and protect her, he wanted to tell her how he felt, but he had only met her a few hours ago.

"What are you?" she asked pulling him out of his daze.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, suddenly feeling very out of sorts.

"I didn't say anything…" She murmured.

"You just asked what I am." He said.

The same feeling he had earlier came back, only, this time, it was worse. His vision began to blur, and he heard a whooshing sound in his ears and his head started pounding, the only thing he could clearly see was Aliesie.

"What are you doing to me?" he strained to ask before he felt something heavy make contact with his body and everything went dark.


	5. We need answers

Outside the palace gates Squall, Irvine, and Laguna took a moment to decide where each of them would go. None of them even had a clue where to start, finding a sorceress wasn't an easy task. Especially when assuming said sorceress probably didn't want to be found. They had already decided it would be best to split up and search in different areas of the city, but they didn't have any proof the sorceress they were looking for was even in the city limits. For all they knew, she wasn't even in the same country, but they had to start somewhere.

Squall and Irvine had both quickly retrieved their weapons from the gate guard, Laguna, however, had opted out of a weapon and refused an escort from any of the palace guards. Which, of course, drove Squall insane. He was the president of the largest country in the world and seemed to have no regard for his safety, especially considering he was planning on going by himself around a city that only he appears to know very well. Squall had tried convincing him to stay behind with Zell, but the efforts were wasted.

"Even though I would love to hang back and spend time with Aliesie, it would move things much faster if three people were searching for information instead of just two. Don't worry I'll be fine!" He said putting squalls argument to rest. He was forced to agree with him; he wasn't happy about it at all. What he didn't like more than that was they had to leave Zell behind, it was no secret that Zell was excellent at gathering intelligence, and this was the perfect assignment for him. Zell was the only one of them who would be able to do anything in defense of the princess on palace grounds.

Squall stood silently contemplating what they should do when Irvine spoke up. "Alright, either of you have an idea where we should start looking?"

Squall stayed silent, but Laguna, after a moment of thought answered with "I've got an old contact I can ask!" and before either of them could say anything else Laguna was gone, running down the street and disappeared completely around a corner. Squall pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh; his carelessness was an endless annoyance.

"Well, that's one down." Irvine laughed. "Any idea where _we_ should go?" he asked.

 _No._ he thought, letting out another frustrated sigh. He didn't like how little information he had about this mission from the beginning; he didn't even have a clue as to where to look for a sorceress. The only sorceress he could find without a problem was his own, Rinoa, but many things factored into being able to do that. Knowing her for five years and living with her for three was one, and the other was the fact that he was her knight, they were connected, and he could always feel when she was close. This was a whole new game, every other sorceress he faced made themselves known in some form or at least made their intentions known. Though he supposed that since they had only just arrived it was too soon to know what would transpire, they still had at least six days to search.

"Ground control to Commander Leonhart!" Irvine shouted waving his hands in front of squalls face snapping him out of his train of thought. "Any ideas?" Squall shook his head no. Irvine nodded and decided he would go figure something out on his own.

"I guess I'll just meet you back here in a few hours." He said heading in the same direction Laguna ran off. He didn't wait for squalls reply or to find out where Squall planned on heading himself, though he knew Squall didn't even know yet.

 _It has to be someone who knows her!_ Squall suddenly realized. The downside to that thought was he had no idea who knew her. _I feel like I've made a horrible mistake by choosing to do this…_ he thought rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration, he took a quick look at him and noticed that Irvine was gone. _When did he leave?_ He thought, but brushed it off. There weren't many buildings nearby, but the ones that were-were huge mansions. Probably owned by the nobility of the country, he made his way closer to the vast estates and thought it would be best to try and question some of them.

The nearest property to the palace was also the largest, it didn't have a gate like the palace did, but from the road, he could see guards at the doors. He decides that this was the best place to start since it was the closest. The estate itself was bright and colorful; the building was bright yellow with white edging surrounding each window and the corners of the building topped with a black shingle roof. It had lush flower gardens all around the building and a large gravel motor court in the front. Squall made his way down the driveway to the front of the estate; the doors were a dark wood with stained glass windows and a balcony hanging over it.

He made his way to the front door, and one of the guards asked "what do you want?" he didn't sound too happy that squall was there.

"I'm looking for the owner of this house." He answered.

"Get lost." The guard said sternly. Squall was irritated at the guard's tone, but he needed to get some answers. He had to think of a way to get past them but didn't know how. "I said get lost." The guard said again.

"It's important that I speak with the owner of this house." Squall said in a serious tone.

"Well, they aren't home." They guard stated in a taunting manner. _Worst idea I've ever had._ He thought.

He was about to leave when an older man exited the house and rushed over to him. "You! You're Commander Leonhart correct?" he asked excitedly.

"I am…" he said cautiously slowly reaching for his gunblade in case the man was hostile. The man let out and excited squeal that took squall by surprise.

"This is exciting! I've wanted to meet you for a long time; I can't believe you're at my house!" he squealed. "I've been a fan of yours since you defeated that sorceress five years ago!"

 _RUN, RUN, RUN!_ He yelled to himself.

"Oh, how rude of me, I am Lord Fergus Allister Crowley the forth." He said introducing himself. He wasn't impressive by any standard; he was fairly well dressed (he was a Lord after all) in a black suit and tie with a bright red shirt. He was short and apparently well fed, was at least in his mid-fifties and almost entirely bald.

"Please come in!" the man invited, Squall wanted to run, but he needed answers. So against his better judgment, he accepted the man's invitation. The inside of the mansion was even more ornate than he had expected, of course, he only had the palace to compare to and that was relatively plain in comparison and he actually kind of liked that the palace was somewhat dull.

"I wanted to ask you a few questions." Squall said still looking around. The man got visibly excited once again, and it made Squall fairly uncomfortable.

"I would be more than happy to answer any question you have commander, but right now I'm having a little get together of some of the other court nobility, and it would be an honor if you could join us!" he said excitedly. Squall was slightly uncomfortable at the idea of a party with people he had never met before, and a man who knew a way too much about him but it would be a great chance to question other nobles. He didn't want to, but he also didn't want to have to go to other estates and have to deal with the potential of security like this guy had.

"I would love to join you." He lied and faked a small smile, the man beamed and headed down a long hallway and eagerly gestured for Squall to follow him.

* * *

Irvine slowly walked down the street checking out his surroundings and the local women of course, not just to look for a sorceress, though the odds of one looking like the witches he'd gone against in the past was unlikely but would be extremely helpful. He was reasonably happy that it was a woman he was looking for, as he considered himself an expert on women.

After walking a while he suddenly had an idea to use scan on a few of them which led him nowhere, but it was worth the try, he would have scanned more, but his supply was limited so he couldn't examine every woman he passed by.

He made his way through the streets until he came to a seedier part of town, it was dismal and filthy for a moment he wasn't even sure he was in the same city. He took a second to look around at his surroundings, he found himself in front of what he thought was a bar that was in between two liquor stores all three of which were practically falling apart. _This seems like a bad idea_ he thought as he ducked into the bar. It was mostly empty, the bar fully stocked, the bar stools had foam exploding out the sides and a pool table with the felt worn almost completely off. The floor tiles are broken, at least the ones that were still there was broken, and an old jukebox was playing in the corner. A man with mullet, goatee jeans, and a leather vest was dancing sexually with a woman, who wore way too much makeup, a skirt that was too short, pink fishnet stockings matching pink thigh high boots and a ratty tank top. He had a feeling that she was probably a hooker. The only other person in the bar that wasn't working there was a relatively young woman who was seated at the bar staring down at her full shot glass.

Irvine took an instant interest in the woman, mostly because she was attractive but she also looked like she could use some cheering up, and he felt like the man for the job. She was fairly average in size and had on a long sleeve lavender blouse on and distressed blue boot cut jeans and a pair of old black combat boots. Her hair was extremely short and a shade of blonde that apparently came from a bottle, he couldn't see the color of her eyes from a distance but saw that they were a dark brown when he got closer and took the seat right next to her.

"You look like you could use a friend darlin'." He said with a smile as he sat down.

"If I wanted a friend here, I would call one." She replied sharply downing her shot.

"Well that's fair I suppose." He said with a laugh and ordering a glass of whiskey. "How about making a new friend?"

She looked him up and down with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, I'm not into cowboys," she said with a scoff.

"Well then how about just an acquaintance?" he asked, she rolled her eyes at him taking another shot. "Can I ask why someone as pretty as you are in a place like this?"

"Well, apparently I'm celebrating." She said sarcastically.

"I'm sensing some hostility." He said jokingly.

"I have every reason to be hostile right now, my sister got sent to a mental hospital, and a wannabe cowboy is trying to get in my pants." she snapped.

"Well first, I wasn't trying to get in your pants, you seemed sad, so I figured I would try and cheer you up. Second, I'm sorry your sister had to go to a mental hospital, can I ask what she went for?" He said with sympathy.

She gave him a confused look and with a reserved sigh she said. "She was sent because she kept seeing messages on her walls. No one else could see them, and apparently, most of them were telling her that she was going to die." His face fell as she continued to explain to him what was happening. "They put her on medication but none of it worked, so, they had her committed."

Irvine's interest was now officially piqued, "So no one believed her?" he asked.

She was stunned at his response, "Why would we believe her? No one else could see them."

He shrugged "I don't know, maybe only certain people can see them. I know this one girl who has the same thing happening to her, no one else could see the messages, but a friend of mine was able to see them." He said in a matter of fact manner.

"So you don't think she's crazy?" she asked quietly but sounding hopeful.

"Not at all, as I said I know someone else this is happening to, I'm working on figuring out who is responsible for it." He stated in a cocky tone. "Can I ask your name?" he asked.

"Amanda Cole." She answered with a small smile.

"Irvine Kinneas." He said offering his hand for her to shake. "Not to be weird, but would I be able to talk to your sister?" he asked taking a sip of his drink.

"She can't have visitors until tomorrow." She said morosely.

"Tomorrow it is then, and as for now, how about I buy you a drink?" he gestured to the bartender, and she laughed as he ordered them another round of drinks.

* * *

Everything was dark. Zell had no idea where he was, how long it had been dark or even if he was awake or even alive, it was just black. He tried and failed to move his body more than once, the only part of him that seemed to be working was his mind. _Where am I?_ He thought as he attempted to look at him. _What happened to me? Am I alive? Where are my legs? Why can't I move?_ He asked himself these questions over and over again as he kept trying to run.

 _"What are you?"_ a voice echoed in his head, but it wasn't one that he recognized. He tried to call out to the voice, but his mouth wouldn't work either. _What am I? I'm a human, aren't I? I'm Zell Dincht, SeeD rank A._

" _How are you doing this?"_ the voice asked.

 _I'm not doing anything, what are you talking about?_ He thought as he tried to move.

He could feel his heart beating harder, and he heard the same sound in his ears as he was slowly able to move his body, he felt the same heavy weight on his side, and his head was in severe pain.

He heard a soft voice calling his name, it sounded far away and frightened, but he didn't know why. _Is someone there?_ He thought as he tried to move more of his body.

"Zell, wake up!" the voice was louder this time. _Am I asleep?_

"Zell, please wake up!" _Who are you? Do I know you? You sound like an angel._

Zell managed to open his eyes slowly and was instantly blinded by bright sunlight causing him to squint. He felt someone shake him, and he slowly lifted his head off the ground.

"Are you alright?!" she asked frantically.

"What happened?" he asked blinking a few times to get his eyes to adjust and sat up off of the ground.

"You mumbled something and then collapsed." She said starting to calm down. He didn't remember any of that.

"I think I heard a voice…" he said getting back on his feet. "Asking what I was, I heard it in my head while I was out too." He must have sounded like a lunatic to her.

"Was it a woman's voice?" she asked as though she believed what he was saying.

"Yeah…" he answered cautiously. "Do you know what's happening?" he asked.

"Did she say anything else?" she asked avoiding his question.

"No, what's going on?" he asked slightly freaked out.

"I wish I knew." She answered. Her face fell for a moment as she looked away from him, when she made eye contact again she smiled slightly.

"you have dirt all over your face…" she said with a chuckle, he started frantically wiping his face, but his hands were covered in dirt as well, so he was only making it worse.

"Did I get it?" he asked.

She laughed and said, "no, let me help." She reached up to his face and started to wipe the dirt smudges off of his face, and he felt the same spark of electricity as before surge through his body when her fingers touched his cheek. She must have felt the same spark as she quickly pulled her hand away and a light blush lit up her cheeks.

"Sorry..." She whispered.

"For what?" he laughed "It's not like you did anything, did you?"

She laughed uncomfortably, "I suppose you're right…" she reached out to his face again, and they both felt the same spark but ignored it, and she wiped all the dirt from his face. A few moments of awkward silence passed between them, and they stared at each other until Zell awkwardly cleared his throat.

"H-how long was I out?" he stammered, embarrassed as he broke eye contact.

"Only a few minutes…" she answered. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm all right; it takes a lot more than that to take me out." He said proudly with a toothy grin. "So since we still have a couple of hours to kill together, what would you like to do?" he asked walking closer to the lake.

"Well, I'd like to finish my drawing." She answered.

"Nah, I'm not gonna let you do that." He said with a laugh "it might be fun for you, but it's pretty boring for me. So, what can we both do that's fun?" his question wasn't directed at her at all, more like he was musing to himself.

"Why don't we go swimming!" he said with excitement.

She gave him a nervous smile "I can't swim." She said shyly.

"How can you grow up with a lake in your back yard and not know how to swim?!" he asked shocked.

"It wasn't high on my list of educational musts..." she answered sarcastically "Besides, I never really had any desire to learn."

"Alright then, I'll teach you!" he said cheerfully.

"Well, that sounds fantastic but, to quote you, "I'm not gonna let you do that." She said crossing her arms and staring him down.

He narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Fine you draw, and I'll swim." He quickly removed his shirt and laughed at the bright shade of red her face turned. She quickly averted her eyes from his well-toned body, and he continued to laugh at her embarrassment as he removed his shoes but left on his shorts.

"What, you've never seemed a shirtless man before?" he chuckled.

"OF COURSE NOT!" she yelled. "It's not proper behavior to be unclothed in public…"

"Yeah, but, were not exactly in public now are we?" He replied before jumping in the water and making a big splash. She turned back in his direction after hearing the splash and watched for a moment as he seemed to move effortlessly through the murky water of the lake and in that moment she was envious of how carefree he appears to be. She shook it off quickly and went to go back to her designated drawing station and continued with her artwork, but she couldn't focus on it. She kept getting distracted by Zell splashing about in the water until finally giving up altogether and opted just to sit on the nearby dock and watch his fun in the water.

She sat and watched him for quite some time until her eyes wandered up to the sky to watch the fluffy white clouds slowly moving along. She felt a sense of calm wash over her, so she decides to lay back and let the sun warm her body while still staring up at the sky. She let out a heavy sigh as she closed her eyes but was suddenly filled with terror as Aliesie felt something wet grab her leg that was dangling over the side of the dock, she quickly sat up and with her free leg kicked at whatever it was that was touching her. Much to her surprise, she had made contact with something, Zell's face.

She was about to quickly apologize when she realized that it was his fault for grabbing her leg in the first place, so instead she said: "Serves you right for trying to scare me!"

"I wasn't trying to scare you, I was trying to get your attention!" he informed her while cupping his cheek.

"What? Why didn't you just say something?" she asked.

"I did, you must not have heard me so touched your leg."

"No, you grabbed my leg!" she said pouting.

"Well, I'm sorry I scared you." He said calmly and waited for her to return an apology for kicking him in the face, but it was evident he wasn't going to get one. He pulled himself up on the dock next to her and shook out his hair making her shriek from the water droplets splashing her all over. He couldn't help but smile at her reaction; he was having fun messing with her because he thought she made the cutest faces in response. He let himself flop backward spreading his arms out to his sides and closing his eyes, letting the sun dry him off.

"Could you please put your shirt back on?" she asked politely. Zell opened one eye to look at her and saw her face was bright red, and her eyes were averted away from his naked chest.

"I will when I dry off, would've gone swimming in it if I wanted it wet." He answered putting his hands behind his head. He couldn't see it, but her silence told him that she was rolling her eyes at him.

They continued to sit on the dock in silence for a while; Zell was relaxing enjoying the sunshine and Aliesie swirled the water around with her feet, and the sound was surprisingly soothing to him. He was about to doze off when Aliesie asked: "Do you think they're making any progress?"

He took a second to answer. "It's hard to say really; Squall is pretty determined to get this taken care of quickly so he can go on his vacation and I'm pretty sure Laguna is too, so they're probably working pretty hard on it."

"What about that other guy?" she asked.

"Irvine? That's even harder to say; I think the only thing he had planned instead of this was breaking up with his girlfriend, Selphie. So his level of dedication depends on how badly he wants to do that." He answered in a slightly irritated tone. She didn't say anything but let out a loud puff of air.

"What about you?" she asked, her question was barely audible.

"What about me?"

"How much effort are you going to put into this?" she clarified.

"I ALWAYS put in my best efforts." He answered with pride. He opened his eyes and noticed a soft smile on her face and he took a second to enjoy the fact that he was the one who put it there.

"So you didn't have any plans outside of your orders?" she asked, sounding slightly flirty which took Zell a little by surprise and he liked it.

"Not really, as far as I know Squall didn't have any missions planned for me, I was just going to play video games for two weeks while everyone else was away." He said sitting back up; he saw her blush again but this time, she didn't avert her eyes.

"You didn't have plans with your girlfriend?" she asked. Zell laughed at her attempt to ask if he was single subtly.

"Nah." He answered he could see her face fall a bit with his answers, so he followed up with "It's hard to have plans with someone who doesn't exist." she laughed at his response and rolled her eyes.

He wanted to see how much he could make her blush, so he asked: "Why? Are you interested in filling that position?" She looked at him with complete shock, and her face looked like an overly ripe tomato, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm kidding, I've learned that it isn't a good idea to mix my work life and personal life." he lied. He couldn't deny he was extremely attracted to her, he would be gone in a week and would likely never see her again so pursuing a romantic relationship would just end in heartbreak for the both of them.

"We should go back; I'm sure Dr. Miri's left by now." She quickly stood up and ran back to the Gazebo and a grabbed her drawing pad while Zell sat silently for a few minutes on the dock before putting his shirt and shoes back on.

The walk back to the palace was silent, and Zell had an inkling that he had somehow hurt her feelings. She moved even faster than she had when they left the palace to the point where Aliesie was almost running, Zell didn't bother to keep stride with her since Aliesie made it fairly obvious she didn't want him too.

She made it to the palace before he did and disappeared by the time he made it inside, but he wasn't alone he was met by Squall who had come back alone.

"Where have you two been? And why are your shorts wet?" he asked. Zell quickly looked down and laughed.

"Went swimming in the lake, did you find out anything in town?" he asked.

"I didn't, but that doesn't mean Irvine and Laguna won't get any information." He answered. "Did you find anything out from the princess?"

Zell took a moment to think about what he should say. "Well, she's not a fan of her therapist. I guess she told the king to have her committed because she thinks she's crazy. Now Aliesie goes out of her way to avoid sessions, but that's all I have."

Squall nodded in understanding. "Do you think she might have some information for us?" he asked.

"Dr. Miri?" Zell asked for clarification.

Squall nodded "If that's the name of the Therapist, then yes." Squall answered.

Zell shrugged his shoulders "I'm not sure, but she's at least worth looking into."

"Any idea if she's still here? The sooner we can question her the better." Squall asked heading down the hall.

"Aliesie said she's probably gone, but she should be back tomorrow," Zell answered following after him.

The palace staff had gotten a room ready for them while everyone was out since they were all working together Squall decided it was best for the three of them just to share a room to make communication easier. They made their way to the second floor and to the guest room they received, which was in between Laguna's and the princesses bedrooms which Squall was also grateful for because he didn't have to share with Laguna and if something happened to the princess it made for quick access.

"Where are Laguna and Irvine?" Zell asked just now noticing squall had returned alone.

"Laguna said he had an 'old contact' he was going to get information from, and I have no idea where Irvine decided to go, but he's probably bar hopping," Squall answered with irritation directed mostly towards Irvine and retrieving his laptop from his bag. Zell kicked his shoes off and grabbed a change of clothes and made his way to the bathroom to wash off the dirt from the lake before dinner.

"So, no one knew anything about a sorceress at all?" he asked quickly before opening the bathroom door.

"If they did, they didn't want to tell me," Squall answered as he sat on his bed and started typing on his keyboard. Zell shook his head in disbelief and entered the bathroom.

* * *

The place Laguna was looking for was barely even out of the city walls, but it was out of the way enough that no one would bother to show up for anything that wasn't necessary. It was a small run down looking house with a broken fence and dead flowers on either side of the front door. The shutters closed over the windows; the gate was hanging on one hinge and it the entire house was in desperate need of a paint job. If he hadn't known any better he would have thought it abandoned; Laguna shook his head at the level of disrepair the house had fallen into since he was last there. He opened what remained of the gate and made his way to the front door and knocked loudly.

"GO AWAY!" he heard a raspy voice yell from inside.

"IT'S LAGUNA!" he yelled back.

"Oh. DEFFINTLY GO AWAY THEN!" the voice responded.

"I PROMISE YOU WON'T GET HURT THIS TIME! CAN I PLEASE COME IN?" he yelled. He heard frustrated murmurs coming from the other side of the door and the deadbolts releasing before the door slowly opened only a little and a chain keeping it from opening further than that. Laguna smiled at the face of an older man that appeared in the crack; his face, covered in wrinkles, and his gray hair disheveled. He held a lit cigarette in his mouth and glared at Laguna.

"What do you want?!" he barked.

"I just need some information," Laguna answered calmly. The old man muttered some profanities after slamming the door shut again and removing the chain, he opened the door and let it drift open slowly on its own as he limped down the hallway to what looked like used to be a kitchen. Laguna made his way inside and shut the door behind him, and followed the old man down the hall.

"It's been a long time, you look good!" Laguna said trying to make small talk. The old man glared at him, his clothes were dirty and tattered, and the man was obviously a hermit.

"Don't make small talk, just get to the reason you're here before something bad happens to me again." He said putting his cigarette out in the nearby ashtray.

"Oh you're exaggerating, something bad doesn't happen every time I'm around!" Laguna laughed.

"The first time I met you, we got in a car together, you lost control and jumped out and left me in the back seat to crash. The second time you got me shot in the leg, the third time you got me shot in the arm, and most recently I got arrested because of you!" he said counting the times on his fingers.

"I got the charges dropped!" Laguna said proudly.

"Why are you here? Make it quick."

"Do you know anything about a sorceress that's causing trouble in the area?" Laguna asked in a serious tone. The man glared at him and looked as though he was debating with himself on whether or not to just throw him out right then.

"What are you up to Laguna?" he asked cautiously.

"Someone has been threatening the princess; I hired SeeD to find out who and they've come to the conclusion that it has to be a sorceress." He explained quickly. "I figured, after the Esthar rebellion you would have been keeping tabs on sorceresses." He continued.

The old man looked confused and scratched the back of his head. "Princess? I didn't know the king had a daughter." He said.

"The king doesn't have a daughter; she's his nineteen-year-old sister," Laguna explained.

The old man looked even more confused. "The late king died 23 years ago Laguna…"

"Yes, I know that she's the daughter of the late Queen." The old man rolled his eyes not caring for an explanation.

"A sorceress brave enough to threaten a royal is bad news, I'd rather not be involved in any way." He growled.

Laguna shook his head "I'm not asking you to get involved, I just need to know of any sorceress that would do something like this. Please."

The old man glared at Laguna for a second, but Laguna was looking at him with puppy dog eyes and he caved. "The only sorceress I know of in this area is named Meredith Cole, she moves around a lot, so she's pretty hard to find, but she spends a lot of time on the eastern side of the city." Laguna smiled and thanked him. He turned to leave, but the old man said: "Hey, why do you care about this princess so much?"

"It's complicated…" Laguna said shaking his head.

"Mistress?" the man asked with an evil grin.

Laguna gave him a disgusted look. "She is 19. She was born when I was 30; that is gross." He said.

"How is it complicated then? It's not like she's your kid." He laughed. Laguna stayed quiet and just stared at him with an awkward smile. "Is she your child?!" he asked.

Laguna nodded silently. The old man laughed surprised; he couldn't believe it. From what the old man knew of Queen Alana, she was an incredibly strong, beautiful woman he also knew that Laguna was a complete idiot around beautiful women and women in general, and he was just an idiot.

"So you're helping her because she's your kid." He said.

"It has nothing to do with that, I'd help her even if she wasn't." the old man laughed.

"So how did you manage to get the Queen? I've got to hear this story." He said pulling out a chair for Laguna to sit in.

"That's a story for another time, I've only got a limited amount of time to get this taken care of," Laguna said with a smile before taking off out the door.


	6. Dear Diary

Zell was woken up the next morning by a chainsaw, at least that's what he thought it was. He was completely disoriented, he didn't remember falling asleep, and Zell didn't remember exactly where he was. All the martial artist knew was, his bed was way too soft, and that noise was loud and annoying. Zell opened his eyes slowly; the sun hadn't come up yet, so it didn't hurt his eyes. The closer he got to full consciousness the less the noise sounded like a chainsaw and more like snoring. Had he gone to bed with someone? He sat up in his bed and looked around; he had gone to bed alone, but he wasn't alone in the room.

There was a little light filtering in through the windows casting a dim outline on everything in the chamber, there were two other beds next to his, directly beside his he saw Irvine sprawled on top fully clothed and snoring loudly. The entire room smelled of liquor and cigar smoke; he could only assume both of those smells were wafting off of him. He could vaguely see squalls silhouette in the bed past Irvine, sleeping like a rock. He looked around some more until he found what he was looking for, his cell phone, it was plugged into his charger on his nightstand. He grabbed it to check the time; it was just a few minutes past 0300. He was still tired. He knew he wasn't going to get any more sleep in this room with the sound/smell combo, so he grabbed a shirt and jeans out of his bag and quickly threw them on, and quietly made his way out the door into the brightly illuminated hallway.

The palace was a ghost town, not one staff member or guard anywhere; he found it creepy. He kept wandering the halls not knowing where he was going when he found himself in front of Aliesie's door. He stood in front of it for a few moments wondering if she was asleep, it was late, or early depending on perspective. He didn't know her sleeping habits; he weighed the pros and cons to just knocking on her door. He wanted to see her, but he didn't want to wake her unless she was awake already. There was only one way he could find out, he looked down the hall to his left and right, even though he already knew it was empty and lightly knocked on her door.

Nothing, he didn't hear a single sound from inside. He thought about knocking again a little louder, though he honestly didn't even know what he would say if she answered. Would he ask her if she wanted to have breakfast with him? At 3 in the morning? Would any of the kitchen staff even be at work yet? He could have always made her some breakfast, he thought of himself as a relatively good cook. He started to lose himself in the thought of what he would make for her when he realized he was just staring at her door. He decided against knocking again and opted instead, to explore the palace a little bit while no one was around.

He listlessly wandered down the long hallway glancing at paintings that were decorating the wall, not stopping long at any one to take in the details; most were landscapes done in various styles, but the only one to catch his attention was a painting of a woman. It was possibly the biggest picture he'd seen so far; there were just a few inches keeping it from the ceiling and the floor, so he figured that the portrait was larger than life-sized, and it was obvious she was the late Queen.

She was stunning, seated in what looked like a throne in a garden of roses, her great gown was colored red with gold accents and short off the shoulder sleeves and spread out around her. Her hands were folded gracefully on her lap; she sat tall with an air of dignity and grace. Her face was pale with rosy cheeks and lips the look she had was stern with what looked to be slight irritation, probably because she had to sit for the painting. Her hair was long, dark black, gathered to the left of her head and fell in soft curls over her shoulder. Her most beautiful feature over all of that was her bright green eyes, even though it was just painting her eyes seemed to pierce his soul. Overall she appeared to be the kind of woman who, if he had ever met her, he likely wouldn't have been able to form a complete sentence.

The longer he stood staring at the painting he noticed two things, the first was that she looked a lot like Aliesie with a few differences. Eye color was one, another was that this woman seemed strong willed and likely not one to be messed with, Aliesie put up a good front, but seemed kind of easy to push around. The second thing he noticed about the painting was that she appeared to be looking at something behind him, he followed her gaze to a door that was blocked off with a black velvet rope with a sign hanging off of it that read 'Do not enter'.

He turned back to the painting, and her gaze seemed to have shifted away from the door; he did a quick double take before shaking it off as just his imagination. He filled with a lingering curiosity as to what was behind that door, he quickly checked for any security cameras and alarms that might be on the door before trying to open it. He expected it to be locked, but it wasn't.

"Wow, they must rely heavily on the honor system here…" he muttered as he slowly opened the door and doing another quick check for any sensor or security camera, and again there were none. He merely chuckled and shook his head at the lack of safety in the entire palace. He glanced back at the painting before stepping over the rope, and the queen's expression changed slightly, she had a small smile, and her eyes reflected approval.

"I'll take that as you giving me permission to break into this unlocked and unguarded room your majesty." He said sarcastically to the painting he didn't look back before entering the room.

It was dark; he walked down a short narrow hall to a small room full of boxes. It was a complete mess; there was a close walkway around a large pile of boxes in the middle of the room but other than that it was nearly impossible to maneuver in the chamber.

"Storage?" he asked himself. He walked sideways along the path reading boxes as he went, some were labeled, and others weren't, most of the ones marked said "pictures." So he grabbed one of the marked boxes at random and opened it to see photo albums. One that caught his attention was a fancy looking white one with calligraphy writing on the cover that read _"Royal wedding: Prince Kaz Mitchell Delaroche and Lady Alana Elizabeth Crowley."_ He flipped it open to the first page, and it was a picture of the late king and queen arm in arm with the biggest smiles on their faces, the queen had on a simple white silk gown with gold lace decorating the bodice and veil. _This woman loved her color; that's for sure_ he, though, shifting his attention to the late king.

Zell hadn't seen many pictures of the former king. The ones he had seen were from a distance, or blocked by bodyguards, so he never really knew what he had looked like, not to mention the fact that he had died before Zell was even born, so there hadn't been many pictures in circulation. The king was tall with broad shoulders, his hair was brown and came down to his chin that shaved smooth but had a faint 5 o'clock shadow, his eyes were a dark blue not nearly as intense as Aliesie's but a similar shade. He wore a plain white tuxedo with a gold vest long coat tails and a pair of white gloves on his hands.

Zell studied the picture for a moment noticing how happy they were; he recognized the location of the photo as the area Aliesie had taken him through the day before where the hill had turned into a grassy staircase by the stone retaining walls. It made sense to him that they would get married at the Palace, but he was amazed at how little it seemed to change after who knows how long. The biggest thing Zell noticed about them, was how young they looked, they couldn't have been more than 17 or 18 at the time, and Aliesie looked so much like the queen it was scary. He couldn't for the life of him though seem to recall any of the king's looks, though, and then a thought hit him. The king had died before he was born, it had to have been at least 23 years ago, and Aliesie was only 19.

"The king isn't her father!" he shouted when the realization hit him. He quickly closed the photo album and placed it back in the box; he had given himself a new mission. "If the king isn't her father, I want to know who is!" he said with determination. He started looking through all the boxes that weren't labeled "pictures," which turned out to be quite a few when he began to dig into the pile of boxes.

He spent the better part of an hour searching through boxes full of papers, barely making any progress in his search. Most boxes were nothing but notes from different meetings that weren't of any importance, he managed only to get through five boxes and was going for the sixth when a strange, ornate box got his attention. He hadn't noticed it before as it hid behind the rest of the pile, it was a little out of his reach, but he wanted to know what was in it. He used the boxes he'd already looked through as steps and carefully stretched as far as he could but was only able to graze the edge of the box with his fingertips. _Maybe I should get Squall to help me; he is a little taller…_ he thought but quickly shook it off and tried again, this time, he managed to grab hold of it.

"Gotcha!" he said triumphantly before jumping back down onto the floor.

He sat down on the box he was standing on to examine his prize. It was strange looking but still beautiful none the less, the lid had a square raised out of the rest of the box, with rounded notches carved out around it and brass fittings at each corner of the box and one large on in the middle. The ends of the lid were like scrolls that were likely used as an aid in hold it and had more of the same brass fittings at the ends, on the sides it had what looked like bowls of fruit with a ring dangling from them for handles. The bottom of the box had brass claw feet, and the front had one last fitting that housed a skeleton key hole, the entire box was a dark wood that looked to be some form of mahogany and completely hand-carved.

He tried lifting the lid to open it, but it was locked tight, luckily it was only a skeleton lock, so it was easy to pick, but he didn't have anything he could use. He dug around in his pockets but it was a wasted effort, he did pull his phone out to check the time since he had no idea how long he'd been in there. It was 5:45 A.M, everyone would still be asleep; he decided just to take the box back to the room and hide it in his bag till later when he was alone to try and get into it.

He made his way back to the exit, when a thought hit him, what if someone was in the hall when he exited the room? What would they do? He pressed his ear to the door to hear any footsteps that might be passing by when he listened to a strange voice echo in his head. _"It's clear…"_

He opened the door to find that the hall was in fact, empty. _Who said that?_ He thought. He glanced quickly at the painting of the queen; there was a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips.

"Was it you?" he asked the painting sarcastically. "What am I thinking of course it was, and I assume this is what you wanted me to find in there?" He held the small box up to the painting as he stepped back over the velvet chord. He smiled at how crazy he must have looked, holding a conversation with a painting. He shook his head and went back towards his room quickly trying to make sure no one saw what he had.

* * *

After he had hidden the box in his bag Zell found himself back in front of Aliesie's door, pacing back and forth trying to decide if he should knock, he approached the door to hit more than once but didn't and went right back to pacing. He didn't know why she made him so nervous, he felt like a teenager again; it felt invigorating and terrifying at the same time.

He went to knock once again. "Zell? What are you doing?" he heard a soft voice behind him, he jumped surprised and spun around quickly to see Aliesie standing silently behind him; she smiled slightly at his surprised look.

"Oh…Uh…" he wasn't sure what to tell her, so Zell said the first thing he thought of "I wanted to see you…" he mentally kicked himself in the face for blurting that out.

A light blush colored her face. "A-and, why is that?" she asked averting her eyes.

 _Because I think you're fun, you're beautiful, I want to know more about you, I want to be near you, I want to protect you, I want to make you breakfast… lots of reasons._ He thought he couldn't tell her any of that, though.

"I wanted to know if you'd like to get breakfast with me…" he decides breakfast was the safest option.

She smiles, and he saw her eyes light up at the idea. "That would be great, but, almost all of the staff is gone while my brother is away…" that explained why he hadn't seen anyone around.

"I'll cook for us!" he offered. Aliesie chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"You can cook?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Of course! Let's go!" he said charging down the hall leaving Aliesie behind, but then quickly returning. "I have no idea where the kitchen is…" he admitted making her laugh again. She only shook her head and led him down the hall.

It was a quiet walk for a while, the entire time Zell had to resist the urge to reach out and grab her hand, he instead would steal glances at her as they walked side by side. She dressed completely different than she had the day before, today she had a white cotton halter top with a cream colored hooded knit cardigan, distressed blue jeans with brown riding boots with silver buckles around the ankles and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail. He liked seeing her dressed like this more than what she had been wearing yesterday, not because she didn't look good, but because this ensemble made her look a little older, more mature and a little chilly like she could use a cuddle buddy. He'd be more than willing to volunteer for that job.

"You look beautiful." He mumbled as they started down a flight of stairs.

"Thank you." She replied. "Are you wearing a pajama shirt?" she asked with a laugh.

He quickly looked down at himself, regretting his decision not to look at what he had packed. He was wearing the shirt Selphie had gotten him for his birthday a couple of months prior; it was a simple yellow and white long sleeve baseball t-shirt with a giant picture of a baby Chocobo giving a thumbs up on the front. He didn't hate the shirt, but it wasn't one he wore around in public, or even around his friends, or at all.

"Is there some story behind it?" she prodded when he didn't say anything.

He shook his head. "Not really, it was a gift from Selphie for my birthday. I didn't even know I packed it."

"How did you not know you packed it?"

He smiled at her and rolled his eyes. "Because I'm one of those people, who just throws clothes in a bag and calls it good." She laughed, and they continued down a long service corridor till they arrived at two stainless steel doors with round windows at eye level.

"Here it is." She said pushing one of the doors open and walking through.

Zell was in awe of the sheer size of it, his mother's entire house could fit in there with room left over it was dark so he couldn't see all of it, but what he was able to see was all stainless and spotless. He was taken by surprise when the lights came on and turned around to see Aliesie with her hand on the light switch with an amused look on her face.

"This is awesome!" he thundered, he was amused when it echoed off of the walls.

His enthusiasm made Aliesie laugh. He was able to look around easier with the lights on, the walls and floor were red tiles with black grout, in the middle of the room were a long island that had broad ranges at each corner, an empty counter top in the middle and a large hood mounted on the high ceiling. On the far side of the island was a wall that had three big ovens with hoods of their own and a set of double doors with a set of buttons next to them. He went around the island to look inside the doors to find a small room full of tall metal racks. Zell assumed it must have been some proof box for bread, he closed the door and turned to see a row of shorter doors with windows on them lining the opposite wall; he could see different types of food inside so he assumed they were refrigerators. At the far end of the room was a wash area with sinks and a large dishwasher and to either side of that were two large doors, likely a walk in freezer and cooler. On the end closer to where he was at, was a long stainless table with stools around it and a counter top with various small appliances on it, he guessed that was where the kitchen staff took breaks.

He turned back to face Aliesie with a big smile on his face. "So, what would you like for breakfast?"

She took a moment to think. "Waffles?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?" he laughed.

"I want waffles with strawberries and bananas on top…and fresh whipped cream." She whispered.

"Anything else?" he asked, she seemed like she was scared of asking for too much from him.

"Bacon and coffee." She said. He wasn't expecting that, but he nodded in agreement.

"I guess I better get started then." He said. "Any chance you know where dry ingredients are?"

She nodded and led him down to a pantry at the end of the row of small refrigerators, he grabbed everything he needed, with some help from Aliesie, and took it to his self-appointed workstation and began his hunt for a waffle iron.

"Do you know where they keep it?" he asked Aliesie after searching the entire kitchen. She only shrugged. "Do you know where they keep skillets at least?"

She nodded and reached down and opened one of the doors on the island. Zell didn't even see on his first search, to find it full of pots, pans, and other various stove top tools, including what he had been searching for, just not in the form he was expecting.

It was a waffle iron, that much was for sure, but it split apart with long handles on each piece like a skillet, so it intended for use on the stove. Zell thought it was kind of cool; he'd never seen one like that before, he set it on the counter and grabbed a skillet for the bacon and two metal mixing bowls for the batter and whipped cream.

"Utensils?" he asked.

Aliesie pointed to the other side of the island which had a row of drawers full of different tools; he grabbed a set of tongs for the bacon, two whisks and a knife for the fruit. One drawer had towels in it, so he retrieved a few. _You never know when you'll need a towel,_ he thought as he made his way back to the other side with Aliesie and got started.

"Can I help?" she asked, as he turned on one of the burners of the stove.

He looked shocked for a brief moment before saying "Yeah, of course! Why don't you cut the strawberries and bananas?" he handed her the fruit and the knife and grabbed another bowl from below for her to put them when she finished.

"Okay…" she agreed.

"You may want to take your sweater off; you might stain it." He said placing the skillet on the flame.

She looked down and nodded before shrugging out of it; he noticed her shiver briefly and for a second wanted to wrap his arms around her to warm her up but quickly refocused on what he was doing.

They worked in silence, Zell frying bacon and Aliesie slicing fruit, he was comfortable with it, he never really likes having anyone help him cook since they would usually try to tell him what to do, but it wasn't like that with her. She had obviously never done anything like this before, and seemed content with her position of 'fruit slicer,' he thought he heard her humming for an instant.

"Why are you making so much bacon?" she asked breaking the comfortable silence. Zell glanced up at her the back down at the skillet that had at least three pounds of bacon in it.

"It's not just for us; I'm sure Squall and Laguna will want to eat too." He explained, taking out some of the crispier bacon.

"What about what's-his-face?" she asked referring to Irvine.

He laughed thinking of how distraught Irvine would be; a beautiful woman does not remember his name. "He's sleeping off whatever he drank last night, but I'm sure when Irvine wakes up he'll want the hangover breakfast."

"The hangover breakfast?" she asked.

"It's just a giant plate of bacon and a giant cup of coffee." He explained taking more bacon out of the skillet. "He calls it 'the breakfast of champions.'"

"Sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen..." She mumbled making Zell laugh again before falling back into the comfortable silence.

"So, do you all specialize in something?" she seemed cautious about asking.

"Squall is a gunblade expert and Irvine is a sharpshooter." He explained.

"What about you?"

"I'm the best Martial artist in Balamb!" he bragged.

"OWW!" Aliesie yelled, making Zell jump. She'd sliced her thumb with the knife, Zell grabbed one of the towels and wrapped it around her thumb and put a little pressure to stop the bleeding.

"Thanks…" she whispered.

He was close to her, but he didn't seem to pay much attention to it till he noticed a light blush color her cheeks, his heart started to race a bit, and Zell could feel her heart rate rise as well since he was holding her thumb in his hand so tightly. He couldn't help himself, this time, he leaned into her slightly, his nose brushed against hers, and Zell felt her sharp inhale, his lips slowly closed in on hers. Zell had almost made contact the kitchen door swung open, and he quickly pulled away from her.

Irvine had managed to find his way to the kitchen; he looked like death and Zell was silently cursing him for actually waking up at a decent time.

"Zell! Hangover special please!" he slurred, seemingly still slightly intoxicated as he stumbled to the sitting area and sat with his head on the table.

"YOU CAN WAIT!" Zell yelled back, hoping that he had a killer headache but all it did was make Aliesie jump, he quietly apologized to her, and she offered him a small smile in forgiveness.

"Let me see your thumb." He said taking her hand again and unwrapping the towel, it wasn't very deep, so he only cast cure to heal it.

"You can use magic?" she asked shocked.

"Only when I'm junctioned." He answered as he began to mix the batter for her waffles, while Aliesie only watched in amazement at how easy it was for him.

"What would you like me to do now?" she asked.

"You can start whipping the cream if you'd like." He told her.

"Alright. How do I do that?"

He laughed. "All you have to do is pour the cream into that bowl and just start mixing it fast with the whisk." He handed her a whisk, and she got started. Irvine decided to drag his stool loudly over to where they were working and offer supervision.

"Are you making breakfast princess?" he asked trying to flirt.

"No." she replied sharply.

"Could you?"

"No, I can't cook." She said flatly.

"What do you call what you're doing?" he asked resting his chin on his hand.

"I'm helping him." She was gesturing to Zell with the whisk and splashing cream on his face. "Sorry."

"It's okay." He laughed.

"Yeah, it's not the first time Zell has had cream on his face I'm sure." Irvine teased causing Zell to cast him a dark look.

"Is that supposed to be a joke? If it is, I don't get it…" Aliesie looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Good," Zell said as Irvine was about to explain it to her.

"Killjoy…" he muttered under his breath.

They were all silent for a while as Zell finished making the waffles and Aliesie struggled with whipping the cream, it was nowhere near the consistency it should be.

"Help me please?" she asked Zell pitifully, he laughed and took the bowl and whisk from her and started to whip it effortlessly.

"You're excellent at that..." She said in amazement at his whisking abilities.

"It's not that hard. This girl I was dating a few years ago insisted on taking cooking classes, and the teacher said the best way for men to do it was the same motion as..." he stopped short upon realizing what he was about to tell her. He noticed Irvine slowly developing and an evil smirk on his face and glared darkly at him.

"Same motion as what?" She asked innocently, Zell's face got as red as a cherry.

"As cocking a gun darlin'," Irvine said answering for Zell.

"Zell you have a gun? I thought you were a martial artist?" She was completely oblivious. Zell's face managed to get even redder.

"Of course he has a gun. Every man has a gun." Irvine laughed.

"That's cool, can I see it?" She asked. The bowl of cream he was holding slipped out of his hands and spilled everywhere.

"Aw, Zell! You got cream all over the damn table!" Irvine laughed. Zell stayed quiet and just put his head down resisting the urge to punch Irvine in the face.

* * *

After a while Zell finally had everything cleaned and finished whipping a new batch of cream, Aliesie helped him carry everything over to the sitting area when Squall and Laguna eventually joined them to go over the plan for the day.

"So what did the two of you find out yesterday?" Squall asked filling up his plate with food.

"Well, I found out that there is only one sorceress in the city limits, I spent a couple of hours trying to find her but didn't, and no one could give me any information about her other than her name," Laguna explained.

"Which is?" Squall asked.

"Meredith Cole." He said, and that got Aliesie's undivided attention.

"I know where she is! I met her sister last night; she was sent to the mental hospital for the same thing that's happening to Aliesie." Irvine chimed. Zell seemed to be the only one to notice the distraught look on Aliesie's face as all this new information came out.

"Are you alright?" he asked her quietly.

"I don't know…" she whispered.

"Aliesie?" she looked up at Laguna who looked concerned.

"Meredith is a sorceress? And the same thing is happening to her?" she asked.

"It looks that way. Did you know her?" Squall asked.

"Yes..." She answered.

"Do you think she would know who's behind this?" he asked.

"I'm not sure; you'd have to ask her."

"Irvine?"

"I got her sister Amanda to add me to the list of visitors; we can go today and talk to her."

"Great, the three of us will go after we eat. Zell, you'll stay with Aliesie if I'm not back by the time Dr. Miri gets here I want you to take care of questioning her alone." Everyone nodded in agreement except Aliesie, who excused herself while Squall was assigning duties.

* * *

After breakfast was over and all the dishes were clean Zell headed back to his room to try and open the box he had found in the Queens belongings, he thought about asking Aliesie about it, but she had seemed to upset about the whole Meredith thing so he just left her alone.

He fished the box out of his bag and set it on his bed; he inspected the lock to figure out how he would pick it when Zell heard a soft knock on his door, and he left the box and went to open the door; it was Aliesie.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked leaning on the door.

"Is it alright if I take a nap in here?" she asked.

Zell wasn't sure if he wanted her to know about the box he'd technically stolen, but he didn't see the harm in it either so he just nodded and opened the door all the way and let her in.

"Thank you." She said, making her way into the room.

"No problem." He said shutting the door.

"Where did you find that?" her eyes were focused on the box like she had seen a ghost.

"It was in a storage closet across from your mother's painting." He confessed, there was no point in lying to her. "It was weird; her expression changed in the picture like she wanted me to go in."

He felt like he sounded like a crazy person, but her expression didn't change, she was probably used to crazy things happening.

"Did she talk to you?" she asked sitting on his bed next to the box.

"I'm not sure, I did hear a voice telling me the hall was clear when I was coming out of the room, but I figured I just imagined it. Does she talk to you?" he asked.

"She used to after my mother died. She used to tell me everything would be alright; she doesn't say anything now."

He couldn't pinpoint what her expression was; she looked happy and sad at the same time he wasn't sure what to do, all he knew was how much he wanted to hold her and finish what he had started in the kitchen. He didn't want to press his luck with that, though, so he just grabbed the box and sat down on Irvine's bed.

"I was about to try and pick the lock before you knocked." He told her.

"Why? I have the key." She took a chain from around her neck; the key had been under her shirt, and she handed it over to him.

"Do you know what's in here?" he asked.

"No Idea, but I remember seeing it in her room when I was younger, she gave me the key before she died." She answered as she lay down on his bed. _You can stay there as long as you want._ He thought.

"What?" she asked.

"I didn't say anything." He put the key in the lock and opened the lid. "It's empty…"

"What?" she sounded shocked.

"Wait… I think there is a false bottom." He was right; he pressed on one of the corners and the entire floor of the box lifted up to reveal a small leather bound book with a metal buckle and strap wrapped around it. He sat the box on the floor and unbuckled the book and opened it to handwritten pages.

"I think this is her journal… do you care if I read it?" he asked.

She shrugged in indifference "It's not like it's my journal, go for it." He smiled at her and laid back on Irvine's bed and flipped to the first page.

Entry 1:

 _"This is the Journal of Lady Alana Elizabeth father Lord Fergus Allister Crowley gave my husband and I each a journal for our wedding to document our lives.I assume it's just so everyone can be nosey after we die, so if you're reading this after my death, I can't promise how often the entries will be or how long they will be, but I will try to write in this as often as I can."_

Entry 2:

 _"It has been a few years since I've written in this thing, and honestly I forgot that I had all I have to say is, my husband and I have decided to try for a child, though it didn't take much trying honestly.I know he's hoping for a boy, I'm not sure I know what I want, or that it even matters right now as I'm only 13 weeks pregnant."_

Entry 3:

 _"We just learned of the horrible things that are happening in Esthar, Kaz decided to go and try and reason with Adel; I hope he's back by the time our son is born."_

Entry 4:

 _"I will never forgive Adel for what she's done! My son will never know his father because of that witch! She's practically taken my life away from me, I learned of a resistance group operating inside Esthar, I've offered them funding to overthrow her, though I must wait for them to , it will be soon."_

Entry 5:

 _"It's been_ _over a year; it still hurts, but I've learned to live without 's hard seeing him in my son, Damion; he has his face and smile, but it hurts less every day.I did receive some good news from the resistance group, they've started their rebellion and with any luck, that witch will be taken care of, and I pray they're successful."_

"You're mother funded the Esthar rebellion?!" Zell shouted, he looked over to see Aliesie sound asleep. "Oops, sorry." He apologized absentmindedly to her then went back to reading.

Entry 6:

 _"The rebellion was a success!I feel a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, I've been asked to travel to Esthar to help their newly elected president get things established and assist them to start an entirely new , he will be better than Adel, I think they said his name was Laguna something, I suppose I'll just have to wait and see."_

Entry 7:

 _"He's a is doomed."_

Zell couldn't help but laugh at that entry; he checked the time to see that it was almost noon; Dr. Miri would likely be around soon. Aliesie was still sleeping peacefully; he didn't feel any need to wake her since he probably wouldn't be gone too long, he quietly left the room after putting his shoes back on.

He made his way down the hallway. He didn't know where she would be, but as he got closer to Aliesie's room, he saw a tall brunette with blonde highlights knocking loudly on her door.

She had High heels on that added another three inches to her and a black skirt suit with a plain blue blouse, her hair was pulled up neatly into a burette, and she wore frameless glasses. The way she carried herself reminded him of Quistis.

"Dr. Miri?" he called as he got closer to her.

She turned at the sound of her name "Yes?"

Her eyes were a dull hazel; there was nothing about this woman appealed to him. Irvine would be all over her, though, she wasn't unattractive, but he seemed to only have eyes for Aliesie even though he probably shouldn't.

"I'm Zell Dincht; A SeeD hired to look into what's happening to the princess." He introduced himself and offered a handshake.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed at him. "What's happening to the princess is a mental illness, it's not magical, and I wish you SeeDs would stop getting in the way of what will help." Zell was taken back by her harsh tone.

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

"If you want to help her maybe you should tell her not to hide during our sessions and take the medication she got prescribed so she can get better." She scolded before storming off.

 _What a bitch._ he thought.

He thought about going after her and telling her off, but it would have been a wasted effort. Instead, he went back to his room to read more of the journal.

He quietly opened the door to the chamber to see Aliesie still sound asleep, he took his shoes back off and laid back on Irvine's bed. He picked up the journal with the intent of reading more, but as he started his eyelid became heavy and he was out.

* * *

 _"How are you blocking me? What are you?"_

* * *

Zell slowly gained consciousness thanks to a loud buzzing sound; he didn't know where the sound was coming from, and his nostrils filled with the smell of vanilla and peaches. He felt something warm pressed against his body fitting perfectly against him as he lay on his side, it was like a form fitting self-heated body pillow. He opened his eyes to a face full of soft black hair; her head was resting on his arm, and his other arm wrapped around her waist. He had no idea how this ended up happening, but he felt like he was in heaven he wanted to pull her closer but the buzzing sound continued. He lifted his head to see his phone vibrating on the nightstand, he reached out and grabbed it trying not to wake her. It was Squall, so he couldn't just ignore it.

"What's up?" he said into the phone.

 _"Bad news for us,"_ Squall replied.

"What kind of bad news?"

 _"Meredith was attacked by someone last night; she's in a coma."_

"Oh shit! Do they know who did it?"

 _"I'm not sure; they can't tell us anything since we aren't did you get from Dr. Miri?"_

"Absolutely nothing, I didn't even get a word out. Dr. Miri pretty much just yelled at me and then stormed off, I still think she knows something."

 _"Any suggestions?"_

Zell took a moment to think. "We could break into her office." He suggested it as a joke.

 _"That may be our only option right now since we seem to have hit a wall."_

"Dude, I was kidding…"

 _"I'm not, we'll go check it out tonight.I'll call for bail if we get arrested."_ Zell couldn't tell if he was serious before hanging up. He set his phone back on the nightstand and wrapped his arm around Aliesie, who managed to sleep through all that, and he fell back asleep.

* * *

It was just after dark when they managed to find Dr. Miri's office, it wasn't on a well-lit or a very populated street, less likely to have witnesses. Squall looked around the building for any security camera while Irvine checked the nearby business fronts for cameras as well, Laguna was looking in windows to see if there was an alarm. Everything was clear; they didn't want to damage any property so breaking a window was out of the question, the side of the building had a fire escape that led to the roof and likely had a door that led inside, hopefully, a staircase that ended up actually inside the office. Squall was elected to pull the ladder down since he was the lightest, Laguna and Irvine each grabbed one of his legs and lifted him up to catch the ladder and ride it back down and they climbed one by one. When they made it to the roof they were happy that the door was unlocked, they likely didn't have many people trying to get in that way. They hastily made their way all the way down to the bottom to find the door locked; Squall let out an exasperated sigh as he tried to figure out what to do next.

"What's that sound?" Irvine asked quietly; it seemed like an empty soda can rolling down the stairs; they looked up the steps to see an olive drab green canister roll onto the landing and before they knew it the stairwell was full of a white gas that made their eyes burn.

"Tear gas!" Squall choked, all three started to cough and ran up the stairs to try and get out, but the gas blinded them. It felt like sand was in their eyes and throats, every breath was a new form of hell. They managed to grab the railing to pull themselves up the stairs, but when they got to the landing, they felt hands grabbing at them and disarming them. Hoods thrown over their heads, their hands were tied, and dragged up the remaining flights, back down the fire escape and tossed into a vehicle.

They had no idea who they were or where they were taking them as the car sped off, taking turns sharply throwing them all over. When it finally stopped, they were pulled out, in the same manner, and forced to their knees.

When they finally took the hoods off they were kneeling in front of a woman who was in her late forties at least, she had short black wavy hair and green eyes. It was hard to make out every detail as their eyes still burned from the tear gas, Laguna was able to recognize her right away.

"Alana?!" he called in confusion.


	7. When the cards are on the table

It was dark when he woke again, his arm was completely asleep, his mouth was dry, and Aliesie's hair was everywhere. He tried to move his arm, but he didn't want to wake her, even though he wanted to know how she ended up in bed with him, they were fully clothed, so he knew nothing had happened between them. He tried to pull his arm out from under her head, but it was stuck in her tangled hair. He started to get his arm loose when she rolled over and buried her face in his chest, he sighed.

His arm was starting to hurt now; he came up with an idea to just move her to the other side and switch places on the bed. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and gently pulled her body on top of his; he tried to slide over so she would have some room on the tiny bed and then gently rolled her off. He felt pretty proud of himself for managing to free his tingling arm; it helped that she seemed to weigh nothing. He stretched his arm out to get some feeling back, it hurt for a while but then as the pain subsided he was wide awake.

He lay there for a while in silence, not sure what to do with himself. All he could think about was how that voice kept popping into his head, who was she? What was she talking about when she said he was "blocking her"? He had a feeling it all had to do with Aliesie, so far it only happened when she was around. Everything about this mission was confusing him; he usually didn't question things this much, but he needed some answers. He had to take his mind off all this; he looked around for a distraction, and he found one, the Queens journal. He reached out and turned on the small lamp on the table then flipped the book open to the last entry he'd read and continued from there.

Entry 8:

 _"I may have miss judged him, though he is still a moron, he seems to care about the people of Esthar. He works hard on every issue, and somehow he manages to smile even though he just lost his wife. I don't know how he's doing it."_

Entry 9:

 _"It's been two years since the rebellion and a little over a year since I was last here in Esthar and the entire country is thriving under Lagunas leadership. My first impression of him was slightly off; he's got a goofy kind of charm and people just like him. I'm a little envious, though I can't deny I've been taken in by it. I'm not exactly sure how it came about, but I think I may have fallen for him. I never thought I could be attracted to another man again after losing Kaz."_

 _I don't know if I like where this is going…_ he thought.

Entry 10:

 _"Laguna threw a birthday party for me in Esthar as a thank you for all I've done, though all I did was teach him a few things. He offered to be my escort for the night, and I was more than happy to have him on my arm. We didn't end up staying at the party very long; I'm not sure if anyone noticed us sneaking out, but we ended up on the roof of the palace just talking all night about everything, and then we kissed a lot. The next thing I knew, we were in bed together, and thankfully we were both sober, I'm not sure if it was just desired after both of us being alone or if we both wanted each other. I suppose time will have to tell."_

 _No, no, no, no, no, no, no…_ Zell yelled mentally.

Entry 11:

 _"It's been a few months since that night with Laguna, and we've since been involved romantically with one another. I have no idea how to tell him that I'm pregnant."_

 _SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!_ He cursed at himself over and over; Aliesie was Laguna's daughter and Squall was her brother.

 _Does Squall even know?_ He thought _. Would he have told them if he did?_

He wasn't sure if he wanted to read anymore, Zell found out who Aliesie's father was, but now wished he hadn't. He was pretty sure Laguna liked him, he had been trusting him to protect his daughter so far maybe he would be okay with him being interested in her. Squall was another story; he was pretty protective of Ellone, but he also knew her his entire life, would he be just as protective of Aliesie? They didn't seem to get along very well when they met, but they haven't talked to each other since.

He looked down at Aliesie still sleeping; he didn't want to admit it, but she did have a few of Lagunas traits, she had his nose, the shape of her face was similar to his, and her hair wasn't as wavy as her mother's.

He tried not to find any more of Laguna in her looks and went back to reading. There weren't that many entries left in it, and he skipped over the ones that just talked about her life with Laguna, not because he wasn't interested but some of it was personal, and he didn't want to have that stuck in his head.

Entry 16:

 _"A few months ago, I had received death threats in the form of letters; they didn't hold any weight, but I had it looked into none the less and it lead nowhere. Then, a week later messages started to appear on my walls, no one else seems to be able to see them I'm not sure what I should do, my father suggested that I see a doctor. Laguna is the only one who even believes me, though he thinks it may be stress related. I don't know what to do…."_

Entry 17:

 _"I've started to see a doctor about the things I've been seeing; she's young and fresh out of school, but apparently she specializes in this kind of stuff. She's given me anti-psychotic medicine that does nothing but causes me to sleep all the time; I am now having nightmares and hearing a voice in my head to replace the messages appearing on my walls. I've been left with no choice but to pass the crown on to Damion, he's only 17, but I have no choice… I'm terrified. I don't want to die; I'm trying to stay strong for my children, and I don't think I can even bring myself to tell them what's happening to me..."_

He couldn't read anymore; he understood perfectly now why Laguna was so willing to pay so much to have them look into this. He didn't want his daughter to suffer the way her mother had, he was doing what fathers are supposed to do and was protecting his little girl.

Aliesie began to wake up, she stretched out her entire body almost falling onto the floor, but Zell held onto her so that she didn't.

"How did you sleep?" he asked making her jump in surprise, but she relaxed when she realized it was him, and then quickly got to her feet with a face that was beet red upon realizing she was in bed with him.

"I-I'm sorry... I had a nightmare and…" she stuttered as she tried to gain her balance.

"It's alright; it didn't bother me at all." He laughed as he was finally able to stretch his rigid body. He wasn't exactly sure which subject he wanted to broach first, the fact that Laguna was her father or her mother's journal.

"So Laguna is your father." He blurted, figuring that would be the best place to start.

She gave him a slightly surprised look and a small smile as she sat on one of the other beds. "So, he finally told you?" she asked.

"No, he didn't," he answered, he held up the journal and tapped it with his finger. "Your mother did."

"Oh." She whispered. "What else did it say in there?"

He didn't know if he wanted to jump right into her mother's death, but he would have to eventually, might as well be now.

He sat up on the bed and moved to sit directly across from her. "Aliesie, what do you know about your mother's death?" he asked with a sympathetic tone.

"I know she got sick, she had to pass the throne to my brother, and a few weeks later she went into a coma and died." She said. Zell nodded and looked down trying to figure out what to say next; he knew she probably wouldn't take the news well, so he flipped the journal open to the entry and handed her the book so she could read it herself. She hesitantly took it from him and began to read the passage he had opened to and Zell watched her face as it went from emotionless to distraught in a very short time. When she finished she closed the book and handed it back to him; she stared silently at the floor for a long time fighting back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Am I…going to die?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"I won't let that happen," Zell answered forcefully, letting his protective nature take over momentarily.

"But, everything that's happened to her is happening to me, it happened to Meredith too…" she started to sob uncontrollably, Zell reached out and took her hands.

"Meredith didn't have me to protect her; no one will hurt you, not while I'm around." He cooed as he stroked the back of her hands with his thumbs, she was still crying but offered him a small smile.

"Do you know anything about that voice?" he asked after she calmed down a little more.

"All I know is she says awful things to me all the time." She said with a sniffle. Zell reached for her face and wiped away a few tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"Is she ever quiet?" he asked.

"Only when you're around…" she whispered, looking down at their hands. That wasn't what he expected to hear, though Zell was glad that his presence gave her peace of mind, it was strange that he seemed to be able to block out the voice. Is that what the voice had meant? It had to be, this sorceress for whatever reason wanted to hurt Aliesie, the only way she seemed to be able to do that right now was mentally, and he was preventing that, but how? And what could be gained from doing this? So far he only knew of three people this happened to, one was the queen; another was a sorceress herself, and then there was Aliesie. They had to have something in common; Aliesie was the daughter of the queen, so that was something, but what about Meredith?

"You said you knew Meredith this morning, how?" he asked.

"She's my cousin." After taking a staggered breath. "I haven't seen her since my mother's funeral, though."

So they were all related. "Do you think it has something to do with the women in your family?" he asked.

"I don't think so." She said.

"Did the voice tell you anything?" he asked.

"She…She said she wanted my power…" she answered hesitantly.

"Your power? What power?" he waited for her to answer but she just looked down at the floor, and then it hit him, Meredith was a sorceress. "Aliesie, are you a sorceress?" he asked quietly. She said nothing but nodded her head only a little.

The whole thing was starting to make some sense to him, a sorceress targeting other sorceresses for their powers and the queen must have been a sorceress as well.

"Did you become a sorceress after your mother died?" he asked trying to make eye contact with her.

She lifted her head slightly to meet his gaze and nodded.

"Does Laguna know?" he asked.

"No one knows, except for you now." She answered that fact suddenly made it so much harder to find out who was behind this, the only other way to know would be to figure out who knew the queen was a sorceress, or even Meredith or that matter.

"Can we go somewhere else?" she asked suddenly. She pulled her hands away from his as she stood up, she seemed extremely nervous, and her cheeks took on a bright shade of red.

"Sure." He answered tentatively, he rose to his feet and put on his shoes after placing the queen's journal on the nightstand. "Where are we going?" he asked pulling a bright yellow hoodie with the garden logo on the back out of his bag and pulling it over his head.

"The lake?" she was getting jittery, and Zell didn't understand what was going on, but he nodded in agreement and without another word he followed her out the door.

As they made their way through the halls, Aliesie was practically sprinting, but Zell was able to keep pace with her easily, though he didn't want to have to power walk the entire way, so without hesitation, he reached out and took her hand and slowed her down. Neither of them said a word the entire way; Zell never lets go of her hand; he liked that she didn't let go either and that she seemed to relax the longer he held it.

When they finally reached the lake, Aliesie released of his hand and made her way over to the dock with him trailing after her, slightly disappointed that he wasn't holding her hand anymore.

"Are you alright?" he asked even though he could tell she wasn't.

"I'm all right." She lied, as she took a seat at the end of the dock. Zell rolled his eyes as he sat down next to her, he'd heard that so many times from Squall over the years but he knew it was never true.

"You can tell me the truth you know." He said with a laugh. She gave him a shocked look that soon fell into one of defeat.

"I don't even know how to explain it." She said glaring down at the water; her fingers curled around the edge of the wooden plank, and her nails scratched at the underside as she struggled with her thoughts to form the right words. Zell sat silent, waiting for her to try and explain what it was that was going through her mind.

"I like you." She confessed. "And it scares me."

"Why does it scare you?" he asked.

"It scares me because I know that someone like you could never love someone like me." She was on the brink of tears again. "You're physically perfect, you can cook, you're smart, you've probably been all over the world and seen the thing that I can only read about in books. "She continued.

His ego swelled a little as she was saying all these nice things about him, but he didn't like that she seemed to think so little of herself and that he was somehow out of her league when in his eyes, that was clearly not the case.

"I'm hardly perfect." He snorted.

"Well, you're much closer to perfection than I am. I'm socially awkward; I'm somewhat clumsy, and I'm not very pretty." She kept listing flaws, but Zell couldn't hear any of it, he felt a blind rage bubbling in the pit of his stomach; he wanted nothing more at that moment than to go after whoever put those thoughts into her head.

"Do you believe those things about yourself?" he snapped.

"Well, no one has ever told me any different." She said darkly.

"Well, now I'm telling you, all of that is wrong. Lots of people aren't very good in social situations, Squall is pretty bad when it comes to socializing, and it's not a fault, it's part of someone's personality. I may have just met you, but I haven't seen you do anything remotely clumsy, you're probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and I don't care what that voice has told you." He spat.

They were both quiet for a moment; Aliesie continued to stare at the water fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill over again. She jumped when she felt Zell's hand on hers, he had calmed down a bit and was able to speak less forcefully.

"I don't know much about you, but I'd like too. I do understand how I feel when you're around, though, I-I feel calm, like every part of me is slowly falling into place. I feel fantastic when you're around, and when you're not, I get anxious and jittery. I don't even remember what it felt like before I met you, it's like I was asleep for my entire life."

She couldn't hold back the tears anymore, no one had ever said anything like that to her before, and she couldn't seem to find her voice to tell him that she felt the same way. Zell reached over with his free hand to wipe away her tears and turned her head so that she was facing him.

"I feel drawn to you, like I have to keep you safe, and not just because it's my job." He struggled to find the words to explain the effect she had on him.

She smiled and let out a soft chuckle. "What? Like that sorceress/knight fairy tale?"

He laughed slightly. "I guess that's the best way to explain it."

"You don't believe those stories do you?" she asked as she leaned her head against his chest.

"Yeah, why not?" He said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I'll be your knight."

She slid closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist; she felt a massive weight lift off of her and for the first time in a long time she felt truly safe.

"Just stay close to me, and you'll always be safe. I promise." He said as he started to stroke her hair.

She pulled away from him slightly to make eye contact with him. "Thank you." She said. He leaned his face in closer to hers and kissed her lips softly, and he felt as if another piece of himself had fallen into place.


	8. Everything has changed

She was dead.

That was what Laguna had been telling himself for the past six years. She was dead.

As time went on the easier, it got to say and to hear, but there were times when he would forget. For fifteen years, she was the first person he would go to for advice when it came to matters of state, or even for advice on what to wear to political events. He would even go to her to help him decide what to eat for breakfast. He considered her his rock, his anchor. She kept him grounded, and she was the only one who could understand what he was going through when he found out about Raine's death. She was the one to help him move on. It wasn't easy for him, but she had always found a way to keep Raine's memory alive, and she had done it for him.

She was dead, but she wasn't.

She was standing right in front of him, and very obviously not dead. Her hair was shorter; she looked slightly older than the last time he'd seen her. But her eyes were the same bright green, and she still maintained her petite figure. She was alive and looked just as confused to see him standing in front of her as he was to see her still breathing.

"Alana!?" he managed to choke out.

His eyes and throat still burned from the tear gas, but there was no denying who she was.

"Seifer!" she scolded. "I told you to bring me Dr. Miri!"

Laguna was tempted to turn around and find out if it was the same Seifer that had started the Lunar Cry, but he couldn't seem to turn his eyes away from her.

"Well, here's the thing. I caught them breaking into the Doc's office and put two and two together," Seifer explained. "Obviously, they were looking for the Doc, so I figured you'd like to have a little chat."

Alana looked baffled. Her eyes slid over Laguna with confusion and a touch of annoyance.

"That makes no sense!" she said. "Why would you do that?"

"I figured they might have some useful information. But mostly, I got sick of you pussy-footing around this guy here," he said, tapping Laguna on the top of his head.

Squall and Irvine both had thoroughly confused looks on their faces. They had no idea who this woman was, other than the name they heard Laguna call her. Seifer was by far the last person they had expected to run into, and neither could puzzle out why he was here.

Seifer was nearly unrecognizable; his face had matured he lost the youthful look of his teen years. His hair was no longer slicked back and hung loosely around his face, and now he sported a short beard. If not for the tell-tale scar between his eyes, none of them would have known it was the same man.

"I wasn't 'pussy-footing' around him. You know the plan," Alana said, crossing her arms, "and this isn't it."

Seifer rolled his eyes and cut the rope binding their hands and feet so they could stand.

"Yeah, yeah, your 'big plan', Hyne forbid, I try and get more information. I mean you did hire me to help you and every time I do, you complain about it."

"Just, go… Do something else right now, please," she sighed. She turned to Laguna and shook her head. "I'm sorry about all of this."

"You're after Dr. Miri?" Squall asked as he watched Seifer go.

"Squall, I think the better question is, _who are you_?" Irvine interrupted.

That was the better question, but Squall still wanted to know what this woman wanted with Dr. Miri. The doctor was obviously important to this woman for some reason. He knew why he had an interest in Dr. Miri, but what interest did she have? What was going on here?

"I suppose that's as good a place to start as any," Squall agreed.

Laguna did not agree. He wanted to know how Alana was still alive, why she didn't tell him she was still alive, what she's been doing, why Seifer was working for her. Laguna had so many questions for her, but he couldn't manage to get his voice to work.

"Alana, my name is Alana," she said.

"Well Miss Alana, I am Irvine Kinneas, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance," he said tipping his hat with a smarmy smile. "May I ask what it is you want with the good Dr. Miri?"

"Good doctor?" she scoffed.

"You know something about her?" Squall asked crossing his arms.

She narrowed her eyes at Squall.

"What were you looking for in her office?" she demanded.

"We don't know. She wouldn't give us any information at the Palace," Squall said. "It was suspicious."

"Wait, why was she at the Palace? She has no business being there. Damion is at the trade summit," she said frantically. "Why was she there?"

"Apparently Princess Aliesie is a patient of hers. The Princess claimed to see death threats on her walls," Irvine said. "Nobody else could see 'em, so they thought she was cracking up."

Alana's sharp gasp practically sucked all the air out of the tiny, dirty room and alarm filled her eyes as she turned her gaze on Laguna.

"Why is Aliesie at the Palace? She was supposed to go to Esthar to live with you," she accused.

"Why would she go to Esthar?" Squall asked, his focus on Laguna. "The King is her brother. Why wouldn't she stay with him?"

"I-I couldn't take her from her home; that was where she grew up… She had just lost her mother; I thought that was best for her," Laguna explained.

"What was best for her was to be where she was safe," Alana retorted.

"I'm sorry! I figured she would be safe with the King, in the place she grew up," Laguna snapped. "I didn't want to upset her life any more than it already was."

"The King had just been forced into a position of leadership for which he wasn't ready. He was only seventeen! He was not nearly mature enough to handle running a country and take care of a thirteen-year-old girl, even if she is his sister. I thought her father would be able to understand that, apparently I was wrong."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… Father?!" Irvine interjected, staring at Laguna in disbelief. "You're her father?!"

Laguna hesitated to answer that question. He had planned on telling Squall in a much better way, like over dinner with him and Rinoa or something along those lines. It didn't help that Squall never answered the phone and never bothered to return his calls. Laguna had tried to tell him on several occasions, but none of those times had gone the way he had planned. He never seemed to be able to get the words out of his mouth, and the timing was never right. The longer it went on, the harder it was to say.

"Yes," Laguna whispered. "Aliesie's my daughter."

"Whoa, that's some pretty heavy shit!" Irvine breathed. "Don't you think you could have told us that sooner? Kind of a big deal."

Squall's reaction to this revelation was hard to read. His expression was blank, and he didn't say a word. He wouldn't look at Laguna, and Laguna feared his son would never speak to him again. His imagination spiraled out of control as he thought of all the ways Squall could punish him for keeping such a big secret from him.

Squall was stunned and rightly so. He had spent his whole life with no family to speak of, save for Ellone, only to find out his father was alive and well and living a good life in Esthar. After he'd gotten over the initial shock of learning he had a father, Squall couldn't hold it against Laguna for being absent for Squall's entire childhood. It wasn't like Laguna had known Squall existed, and Squall had always assumed that if Laguna had known he had a son, he would have come after him. That was just the type of guy Laguna was, and Squall understood.

What he didn't understand was how Laguna could keep the fact that he had a biological sister a secret from him. Squall honestly didn't know how he felt about that.

 _I have a little sister..._

That phrase kept replaying over and over in Squall's head. He couldn't tell if he was angry at Laguna or not, but he was slightly envious of Aliesie. She had the kind of life he had dreamed about as a child. She had her mother and father with her for most of her life. She had _his_ father. They all had a happy life together while he'd been alone. At least that's what he assumed, considering what Laguna was willing to pay to protect her.

 _Would Laguna be willing to pay that to protect me?_

It was a silly question to ask himself. Laguna would never have to pay to protect him. Squall could protect himself and his wife. But, what if he couldn't? Would Laguna be willing to hire SeeD to protect him? Of course, he would. This was Laguna after all. He cared about people. That's what he did. So, why did Squall feel so offended about being hired to protect his sister? Did Laguna believe that Squall wouldn't be willing to help unless he was being paid for it? Why wouldn't Laguna just tell him about her? Was he afraid of hurting Squall's feelings? Was Laguna afraid Squall would be angry?

Squall was unaware that all eyes were on him, waiting for some reaction as he sat there brooding on these questions.

"You okay, Squall?" Irvine asked him cautiously.

What kind of question was that? Squall just found out that he had a little sister and his father hadn't told him. A sister Laguna didn't seem to have any intention of ever telling him about, what part of that was he supposed to be okay with?

Squall had been shocked initially, but shock slowly melted into anger. Why in the hell had Laguna kept this to himself? Did he not realize this was something Squall would want to know? Something he needed to know? Squall had nothing but questions; it was hard to sort them all out.

Alana looked concerned as she stared at Squall. Who was she? And how did Laguna know her? Was she Aliesie's mother? And she didn't know him. What right did she have to be concerned about him?

It was then that Squall realized everyone was looking at him with identical expressions of concern and it was too much. The more Squall thought about this entire situation, the angrier he got. He had to get out of that room, away from all of them, and he needed to do it right now.

"I…need some air…" he said calmly.

He could tell just by the way they all looked at him; he was too calm, but Squall couldn't help that. He'd spent years masking his feelings, and that was a hard habit to break, but he wasn't about to have a mini-breakdown in front of everyone. Even if inside he was freaking out.

He found his exit in the form of a staircase that led out of a cellar door. Outside the air was crisp and fresh but still slightly humid. It helped clear his head and calm the anger at being kept in the dark about Aliesie.

He made his way to a nearby rock formation and took a seat. The place Seifer had brought them to was out in the middle of nowhere. From where Squall sat, he couldn't even see any lights from the capital city. In that sense, it served its purpose as a hideout if that was what this place was.

Squall looked up at the stars and tried to ignore all of the questions bouncing around inside his skull, but it was useless to try. Answers were the only thing that might quell the noise in his head, and Squall wasn't quite ready to ask them, mostly because he didn't know how.

"Squall."

He wasn't surprised that Laguna had followed him out. Of course, he had. Squall didn't know if he was angry about that or not. He didn't want to talk, but he needed those questions answered before he brooded himself into a deep, dark stupor.

"What do you want?" Squall snapped.

"I'm sorry," Laguna said, hanging his head. "I should have told you."

Laguna shoved his hands in his pockets. The look on his face was pitiful and sad. Squall did not let that interfere with the anger he felt at being lied to by Laguna.

"You've had five years to tell me," Squall shot back. "Five years and you never said a word."

"It's not like you made it easy. I tried to tell you plenty of times," Laguna snapped.

Laguna wasn't normally one to lose his cool, but he didn't like the way Squall was talking to him. Sure, he messed up by not telling Squall about Aliesie. That was a pretty big deal and now was an appalling time for it to come out, but Squall hadn't made it easy to get in touch with him. Any opportunities he might have had to spill the beans were few, and so far, Squall hadn't been too receptive to knowing the details of his family or getting to know Laguna beyond a professional relationship.

"So it's my fault? Is that what you're saying?"

"No! I wanted to tell you when I told you I was your father, but, I figured that would be way too much to take in all at once!" Laguna said. "I decided to wait, and then every time I would try after that you would either push me away or something would come up and now, here we are."

Squall hated to admit it, but when Laguna put it like that, it was hard to be too angry because it was the truth. He desperately wanted to stay mad, but Laguna had tried to be in his life. As annoying as his efforts were, Laguna was trying. It still bothered him that he had a sister that he hadn't known about and had only just met, but he had to laugh at the fact that he already had an argument with her.

"Does she know I'm her brother?" Squall asked, not that it mattered much. He just didn't want to be the only one out of the loop.

"I was going to tell her after you found out," Laguna said. "I didn't think it would be fair for you to be the only one out of the loop,"

 _Damn it Laguna, why do we have to think alike sometimes?_

"That woman…" Squall trailed, changing the subject before things got too deep.

"She's Aliesie's mother," Laguna said, confirming Squall's suspicions.

"The late Queen?" Squall was confused. Aliesie's mom had died. Hadn't she?

"Obviously not as late as everyone thought," Laguna said. "I'm going back in to find out what's going on."

Laguna turned to head back inside the run-down shack, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his posture tenser than Squall had ever seen it. Squall followed silently behind, absently wondering if he should bite the bullet and ask Laguna if there were any other half-siblings that he didn't know existed. For all Squall knew, Laguna had sired a whole hockey team, and Squall was none the wiser.

He snorted at that thought as they rejoined the rest. Seifer had returned and joined by a pair that Squall hadn't seen in a long time.

Both of them looked different than they had five years ago. Raijin had shaved his head and wore a scruffy goatee. Fujin had let her silver hair grow out and wore it in a long braid that draped over her shoulder.

"Did you girls sort out all your lady issues?" Seifer mocked as Squall and Laguna entered the basement.

Squall said nothing but rolled his eyes at him, prompting a soft chuckle from Seifer.

"I suppose since you're here," Alana said, casting a dark look Seifer's way, "We might as well help each other out,"

When no one spoke up, Squall took charge. He needed answers, and they weren't getting any by standing around saying nothing to each other.

"What is all this about?" he asked. "Why are you alive? And what are Seifer and his 'posse' doing here?"

"You don't mess around do you?" Alana said with a small smile. "I like that."

She glanced at Laguna before continuing, and Squall crossed his arms over his chest in impatience.

"I hired Seifer to help me track down a sorceress named Domino," Alana said. "She is targeting other sorceresses for their power in an attempt to become the embodiment of Hyne himself. I was her target six years ago, and I faked my death so I could track her down and put a stop to it, but she went into hiding before I could learn anything of use. Recently, she started going after sorceresses again."

"So, you were a sorceress?" Irvine asked.

"Yes, I was a sorceress. I thought that Domino used Dr. Miri as a way to acquire my power," Alana said. "That's why I wanted to question her, but… if Aliesie is a target, that's not the case."

"So, you think Aliesie inherited your power?" Squall asked.

"If she's the new target, she must have."

"That's all well and good I suppose, but how is it that Zell can see the messages on her walls when no one else can?" Irvine asked.

This was a question that Squall and Laguna also wanted to be answered. Squall was just about to ask, but Irvine beat him to the punch.

"Interesting," Alana said, less confused than fascinated. "This Zell. He's a SeeD like the two of you?"

Squall and Irvine both nodded in response.

"And is he at the Palace now?"

They nodded again.

"When you all arrived, was Zell acting… strangely?"

That was an odd thing to ask, in Squall's opinion. What did she mean by strange? It wasn't like Zell was exactly average. Squall tried to think of what he would consider strange for Zell and couldn't come up with much. A lack of interest in hot dogs would be weird. Or maybe sitting still for a change.

"He did say he felt strange," Irvine finally answered.

"Did he elaborate?"

Squall didn't understand why any of this would matter. What did Zell's behavior have to do with him being able to see the messages on Aliesie's wall?

"He said, it was like he had too much caffeine. He felt jittery and anxious like he needed to move faster towards something," Irvine said.

Squall didn't remember Zell saying that, but Squall had learned to tune out much of what was going on around him. He'd figured the long trip had gotten Zell wound up, and that was all.

"And if I had to guess, I'd say it started as soon as you arrived in Centra and it stopped after he met Aliesie," she said.

"Yeah, I'd say that's pretty close," Irvine said.

"What are you getting at?" Squall asked. Obviously knew something, so why couldn't she just come out and tell them?

"I think it should be obvious, especially to you," she said to Squall.

Her tone was a little condescending, and Squall frowned as he looked back at Alana, wondering why it should be so obvious. Was he supposed to be all knowing? Why couldn't she just spit it out? He was getting exhausted of the guessing games.

"Well, call me oblivious then, because I don't know what you're talking about."

She sighed and paused for a moment to see if either of them would figure it out. When no one did, she threw her hands up and gave an exasperated sigh.

"He's her Knight."

Her knight? How was that possible? They had only just met, and as far as Squall knew that was a lifetime commitment. There was no way either of them could be that willing to make that kind of commit to someone they just met.

"I'm confused," Irvine said. "How can he be her knight? They've known each other all of two days."

At least Irvine was still able to get questions out. Squall was too lost and had too many issues even to know where to begin.

"I'm not sure I like that idea," Laguna said darkly. "Zell's a great kid, but..."

"It's not a choice dumbass," Seifer interrupted.

"Though, crudely worded, Seifer it right," Alana said. "It's basically like a soul mate. The connection is there from birth. Neither one notices that bond until their paths finally cross, and then they would pretty much do anything to keep each other safe."

Though it was strange to think about, it made sense. Squall had been drawn to Rinoa the minute he'd laid eyes on her, even before she was a sorceress, and even though in the beginning she annoyed him and rubbed his nerves the wrong way. It was like he couldn't help himself. After she'd become a Sorceress, it felt as though she was another part of himself.

Well, that explained why he had been willing to jump out into space for her after only knowing her for a short time.

"The more time they spend together, the stronger the bond will become. Eventually, they'll be able to communicate telepathically, and assist one another from any distance through that bond,"

That was news to Squall. He hadn't known much about the sorceress/knight bond. All he knew was that he could tell when Rinoa was around or in any trouble, but they had never tried to communicate telepathically. His curiosity was piqued, but that was something to think about for another time.

"It's quite likely he's already blocking Domino from accessing Aliesie's mind," she continued. "And he may not even know he's doing it."

"Wait. Is this sorceress trying to get in her head? I thought it was just messages on her walls," Laguna asked, jumping back into the discussion. "Aliesie didn't say anything about hearing her."

"That's how it starts. The messages that no one else sees. Then she gets into your head," Alana shuddered slightly at the memory. "She... Torments you. It starts off with insults, and then..."

Alana shook her head and collected herself. It was evident to everyone in the room the experience had been unpleasant and scary. Squall felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for his sister. If someone did that to Rinoa, Squall would have ripped the world to shreds to make it stop.

"When all this started, I confided in my niece, Meredith, who confessed that she was also a Sorceress," Alana said, "We came up with a plan to fake my death so that I was no longer a target. Meredith would take my power and revive me as soon as it was gone, leaving me free to track and stop Domino before she could target Meredith or someone else."

Everyone in the room listened silently. Most of them showed only curiosity, but Laguna's face reflected sadness. She hadn't come to him for help. He could have done something. He would have done anything if it meant he didn't have to grieve again.

"We went through with it, and as I lay there on the brink of death, Domino got...talkative," Alana said. "I guess she thought she'd beaten me, and just like a movie villain, she spilled the whole thing and bragged about how easy it was..."

It wasn't easy for Alana to talk about what had happened leading up to her "death." Now her daughter was going through the same thing, and Alana had never been more determined to stop Domino.

"I never intended to be in hiding this long," she said to Laguna. "I'm sorry."

Squall had a sinking feeling Laguna was about to volunteer all of them to help. To his surprise, he was okay with it. If Domino managed to take Aliesie's power, then Rinoa was most likely the next target. Squall couldn't let that happen, and he couldn't let Aliesie fall victim to this plot, either. He was willing to stop that from happening at any cost.

"What do you need from us?" Laguna asked.

It didn't take long for him to forgive Alana, not that he was one to hold a grudge in the first place. As ill thought out as her plan was, he understood.

"You weren't supposed to be brought here in the first place," she answered crossing her arms and glared at Seifer. "I had a plan."

"Funding would be helpful," Seifer chimed in. "Maybe a case or two of beer."

Alana sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

"IRRITATING," Fujin said.

She only said it to change the subject and Alana cast a glare her way, knowing what the subject was being changed to.

"Yeah, we were getting pretty tired of you moping around every time Loire's mug popped up on T.V," Seifer said. "All you do is whine about how you should just tell him you didn't kick the bucket, but you never did a damn thing about it. So I handled it."

Alana's face turned bright red. Seifer had urged her to deal with it, and when she wouldn't, he got annoyed. More than once, Seifer had threatened to call Laguna and tell him the truth or swore to kidnap him for her, just to shut her up. She never expected him actually to do it.

"You handled it," Alana said flatly. "I didn't ask you too."

"It seemed like a pretty good way to fix two problems at once. Excuse me for taking the initiative," Seifer fired back.

"NEWS," Fujin interrupted again.

The television playing in the corner of the room muted, but everyone saw the emergency broadcast banner at the bottom of the screen. Fujin turned the sound up to a report about a massive fire in the capital city. On scene, a reporter chattered into a microphone about the blaze, but that was not what held everyone's eyes fixed on the screen. It was that every last one of them recognized the fire-engulfed building in the background.

* * *

Zell sat on the dock with his arms wrapped around Aliesie's shoulders, happy and content to be close to her. He was propped up against one of the posts of the dock as she leaned into his chest, watching the stars together. Zell didn't feel like he needed to talk to fill the silence for a change, and that was nice. He hadn't noticed before, but Aliesie calmed him. He didn't feel the need to bounce around or swing his fists at shadows the way he normally did when he was idle. And that was nice too.

"Did you always want to be a SeeD?" Aliesie asked, breaking their comfortable silence.

Zell took a moment to think about that. He couldn't remember a time when he hadn't wanted to be a fighter. Some of that stemmed from being picked on as a kid, but a lot of it was because he enjoyed a good brawl and he was good at it.

He had other hobbies, but it wasn't like professional T-boarding was a career option.

"Not necessarily a SeeD. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a soldier like my Grandpa." He said, "What did you want to be as a kid?"

She pulled herself away from him to sit upright. Her absence created a cold spot on his chest that he didn't like that much.

"I wanted to be a lot of things. When I was a child, I wanted to be a superhero like my parents," she answered with a chuckle.

"A superhero?" That was not what he expected from her.

"My mother told me that the reason she and my father couldn't spend all their time with me was that they had to help the people of their countries. At the time, the only logical conclusion I could come to was that they were both superheroes."

He supposed that made sense in a strange way, but all he could picture was Laguna in a cape and spandex, his underwear on the outside and his hands on his hips standing in the wind. He shuddered at the thought.

"What did you want to be most recently?" he asked trying to get the image of Laguna the Caped Crusader out of his head.

"A veterinarian," she answered, "or maybe a teacher,"

"Those are much more attainable than being a superhero," he laughed.

Zell could picture her as either one of those things, though he was quite partial to the idea of her in a lab coat. She was only nineteen, so she could still easily pursue either career if she wanted to, assuming she was even permitted to leave the Palace.

Her eyes were far away as she stared out over the clear, calm water of the lake and Zell thought she looked sad.

"Aliesie," Zell called softly to get her attention.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever left the palace grounds?"

"Well, when my mother was still alive, I would spend summers in Esthar with my father," she replied. "Other than that, not often, no."

"What about after she died?"

"After she died… I was restricted to the Palace grounds," her voice fell as she spoke, "But, when I was fifteen, I ran away for a week. I ended up coming back with a tattoo."

Zell was shocked to hear that. This Princess with her prim and proper ways had gotten a tattoo? It was pretty hard for Zell to believe, but he was no stranger to ill thought out acts of teenage rebellion.

"Can I see it?" he asked with an amused smile.

She crinkled her nose in a way that Zell found adorable before nodding in agreement.

"You can't laugh."

"I won't," he promised.

She turned her back to him and pulled her hair away from her left ear to reveal a small but very detailed tattoo of a lotus flower. It wasn't what Zell had expected, but at the same time, it was very much something fifteen-year-old girl who wanted to be rebellious would choose. Unlike Zell, she had gotten it where she could easily hide it but still, know it was there. It wasn't for everyone else, only her.

The tattoo was adorable, just like her. Zell lightly brushed a finger over it and felt her shudder at the unexpected touch.

"I like it," he said. "It suits you."

"Thanks," she said, turning to face him again.

His face was closer than she had expected and Aliesie was taken by surprise when he leaned in to catch her lips in a gentle but heart-stopping kiss. Aliesie, with almost no experience with boys or romance, felt so natural with Zell, it was hard not to get swept up in it. It helped that he knew what he was doing. Enthusiastic, but not aggressive, Zell's lips were softer than they looked and his kiss much sweeter than she could have ever expected.

After being locked up in the palace for so long, Aliesie never expected to meet anyone she liked enough or was this comfortable with, given what she was. This level of intimacy that she didn't think she would ever have with anyone, and she didn't want it to end.

When he pulled away, she was left off balance, her heart pounding and a little light headed.

"I like it when you do that," she said breathlessly.

Zell chuckled softly and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. He liked doing that, too.

"Have you ever used your magic before?" he asked.

The question caught Aliesie off guard. Her head was still swimming from the kiss, so it took her a moment to answer.

"A few times, but not in a dangerous way."

"How so?" He didn't understand what she meant.

"I'll show you."

She inched a little closer to the edge of the dock until her feet were almost touching the water. She tapped the toe of her boot onto the surface of the water, creating a ripple that gradually made its way across the lake. The reflections of the stars shook free of the water and gently floated up into the air. Little balls of soft light surrounded them and twinkled like lightning bugs.

Zell was thoroughly impressed. He'd seen magic used in many ways, mostly in combat, but he had never seen anything like this. He rose to his feet as one of the balls of light drifted closer, and he reached out slowly to touch it lightly with his finger. It burst like a bubble into hundreds of tiny particles of light, like dust motes in a ray of sun.

"This is unbelievable!" he breathed.

He looked over at Aliesie, who was smiling from ear to ear as she reached out and popped the light bubbles one by one. Every time she popped one, her face illuminated in a soft glow. She looked so beautiful to Zell at that moment; he felt dizzy.

"Dance with me," he said, holding out his hand.

"There isn't any music," she protested with a laugh, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

"So?" he said with a smile.

Aliesie hesitated for a moment before reaching out for his offered hand. He pulled her close and spun her around gracefully before drawing her back in.

She had never danced with anyone other than her brother before. They had both learned to ballroom dance together, and she had hated those lessons, but she enjoyed dancing with Zell among the floating lights. As they spun they passed through the light bubbles, creating new bursts of light all around them, it was like something from a romantic movie, but it was also fun. More fun than she'd had in a long, long time, and she knew it was because of him.

Eventually, the dance slowed to a sway, then they were no longer dancing at all. Zell held her close, his arms around her, strong and protective and exactly what Aliesie needed.

Zell couldn't resist going in for another kiss. He leaned down and planted another soft kiss on her lips and sighed happily when she kissed him back. He would never get enough of this.

"Princess."

The intruding voice made them both jump and turned toward the sound.

One of the palace guards stood a few yards away from them, and it struck Aliesie as odd. The guards never came looking for her here, except on the rare occasions when her brother needed to speak with her. Was her brother back? He wasn't scheduled to return for another three days.

"Yes?" she asked warily.

Zell must have picked up on her apprehension. His grip around her waist tightened slightly, enough for her to feel it, but not enough for the guard to notice.

"Your grandfather is here; he wishes to see you," the guard said. Then, he bowed and turned to leave.

Something seemed odd about the guard, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. She had a strange feeling she couldn't quite pinpoint. Her grandfather didn't care for her much, just for the simple fact that Laguna was her father and not the late King, so on the rare occasions that he would visit the palace, he would barely say two words to her, let alone ask to see her.

She thought about voicing her concern to Zell, but she figured that it was just her imagination. Still, she didn't want to go by herself. Her Grandfather could be fairly scary at times.

"Will you go with me?" she asked.

"Of course."

They strolled, hand in hand, back to the Palace. As they approached the glass doors, another guard appeared.

"He's waiting in the throne room for you, Princess."

"Thank you,"

Aliesie couldn't tell if her uneasy feeling was because of her grandfather asking to see her or something…else. She tightened her grip on Zell's hand as they made their way down the corridor to the throne room.

Zell couldn't help but think it was rather late for a social visit, but he didn't know what time it was. He reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out just enough to check the time. 11pm. Way too late for a social call.

When they reached the throne room, the doors were already open to the oval shaped room. Tall marble pillars lined the edge of the chamber and between each one was a large painting of a former ruler. The ceiling was beautiful stained glass and at the other end of the room was a large red and gold throne atop a short staircase.

In the middle of the room, a short, portly man in a black suit waited. Zell had never seen him before, but he already didn't like him.

"Darling! Come give granddad a hug!" the man said when he saw Aliesie. He stretched his arms out wide to receive her. He wasn't smiling.

"Grandfather Crowley," she greeted, "May I ask why you've come to see me?"

"Does a grandfather need a reason to visit his granddaughter?" he asked tilting his head. His arms were still outstretched.

He'd never come to see Aliesie before, but maybe he wanted to mend fences. Maybe.

After a moment, Aliesie conceded to his request and let go of Zell's hand to embrace her grandfather.

Something didn't seem right about this. Lord Crowley wrapped his arms lovingly around Aliesie, but the look he gave Zell was nothing short of mocking.

Before Zell could make a move, Lord Crowley moved his left hand slightly, and a hypodermic needle plunged into Aliesie's neck.

"NO!" Zell yelled and moved to attack, but he was tackled by at least four guards who appeared out of nowhere behind him. He fought them as he went down, but four against one wasn't a fair fight. He was pinned to the ground, unable to move.

"Wh-what? Wh-why?" Aliesie mumbled as she went limp in her grandfather's arms. She struggled to keep her eyes open, searching for Zell, but her vision blurred and then everything went dark.

Lord Crowley gently laid her on the floor before placing a cap onto the needle and returning it to his coat pocket.

"YOU BASTARD! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Zell yelled as he struggled under the pile of guards.

"She's perfectly fine. It was nothing more than a tranquilizer," Crowley said calmly.

"If you lay a hand on her…" Zell threatened.

"Is it done?" A woman's voice called.

That voice sounded somewhat familiar. Zell couldn't turn to look, but he had his suspicions. He heard the click of high heels on the marble floor and twisted his head to see who had joined them.

"Of course. She's out like a light," Crowley said.

"D-Dr. Miri!?" Zell yelled, "I thought you were supposed to be helping her!"

Zell struggled against the guards again, trying to break free. It was no use, but he kept trying. If he could get one arm free, he could dislodge the rest.

"I am helping her, silly boy. I'm helping her become part of my magnificence!"

"You? You're the one behind all of this?!" Zell yelled again. "You killed her mother?! You attacked Meredith?!"

"Their sacrifices are necessary. The world is going to be a much better place soon; I promise you that!" she said.

Zell felt a dark rage bubbling in his gut. He felt helpless. Aliesie was helpless and unconscious on the floor. He should have never let this happen. He had promised to keep her safe, and he'd already failed her.

Dr. Miri took both of Aliesie's hands and placed a large knife between them, wrapping her fingers around the hilt and held it just over Aliesie's heart. Most likely to make it look more like a suicide than cold blooded murder.

Zell didn't know what else to do. He only used summons in desperate times, but he was as desperate as ever right about now.

"HELLFIRE!" he yelled.

He heard a deafening roar from behind as all the guards went flying and a giant ball of fire crashed into Dr. Miri and Lord Crowley. They were engulfed in flames and Zell distinctly heard their screams of pain as he scrambled to his feet.

Zell threw Aliesie over his shoulders and took off as fast as he could out of the room. All around him, flames licked up the walls and over the paintings. He ran as fast as he could, he tried not to think about what was happening behind him, but he could hear the roar of the fire and feel the heat intensifying. The fire was spreading fast, and he searched for an exit as the hall filled with smoke.

When he finally made it out of the building, he didn't stop running. He didn't want to give any of them a chance to catch up if they were still alive.

Zell managed to avoid being seen, using his SeeD training to pick the least traveled path to avoid suspicion. A man carrying an unconscious woman on his shoulders through town didn't send the best message, so he stuck to allies and tried to stay in the shadows whenever police or fire trucks drove past. The handful of people he did encounter seemed to be preoccupied with the burning Palace. He was barely noticed.

He made his way to a part of town that was nearly abandoned, full of empty warehouses and large, rusting shipping crates. He decided this was a decent place for him to rest and ducked into the open door of one of the warehouses. After a quick scan of the place, he determined they were alone and set Aliesie down against the wall. It was dirty but safer than where they were. He pressed his fingers against her neck and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse. She was still alive. Such a simple thing but it calmed him down exponentially.

He sat down next to her and pulled her close to him to wrap his arms around her. Her sweater wasn't that thick, and it was getting chilly out.

He jumped when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was Squall, likely worried about the fire.

"Dincht," he answered.

"Where are you?!" Squall asked frantically.

"I'm not 100% sure, but I think I'm at a shipping yard," Zell said.

"A shipping yard? Is Aliesie with you?" Squall replied.

"She's safe. Unconscious, but safe," Zell answered.

He heard Squall breathe a sigh of relief. It was unexpected. Squall must have been fairly worried about him. Or, maybe he finally found out Aliesie was his sister, and he was worried about her. Zell heard a voice in the background talking to Squall, but Zell couldn't make out what was said.

"Apparently, there is only one shipping yard in town. Stay put; we're coming to get you," Squall ordered. "Keep an eye out for a black van."

"Roger," Zell replied.

* * *

After about an hour, Zell saw headlights shining through the windows. He peeked out, unsure of whether or not it was Squall and saw a black van idling by the next building. When the door slid open, and Irvine stepped out, Zell was relieved.

"Alright sleeping beauty, time to go," he said to Aliesie as he picked her up.

He carefully made his way out the door and cradled her head against his chest so that he didn't accidentally hit her head on anything. The last thing he needed was to give her a concussion.

"YO!" he called to Irvine who had headed in the opposite direction.

Irvine turned at the sound of Zell's voice and ran over to him when he saw Aliesie unconscious in his arms.

"Is she ok?!" Irvine asked.

"I think so. She was injected with a tranquilizer," Zell said.

"They're over here!" Irvine called out to the rest of the search party.

Squall appeared from behind a nearby shipping crate, but Zell was shocked to see Seifer and Raijin joined him.

"Why are you here?!" he demanded. He turned to Irvine for answers. "Why are they here?!"

"Dude, it's a long story. We better get going," Irvine said.

"Where are we going?" Zell asked.

"Just get in the damn van, Chicken-wuss!" Seifer barked.

He hadn't been called that in years, and it was still grating.

"Fuck off, Lap Dog." Zell was in no mood to deal with his assholery.

"Fine, stay here. I don't give a shit," Seifer replied starting the engine.

Zell reluctantly climbed into the van, placed Aliese gently on the seat and put his arms around her. She was still out cold.

* * *

Everything was hazy, and the last thing Aliesie remembered was the sharp pain in her neck. What had her grandfather done to her? The pain, followed by darkness. She had no idea where she was or what had happened after she blacked out. She could even be dead for all she knew.

Her entire body started to tingle and feel itchy, but she wasn't able to scratch anything. After a while, she found she was able to move a little. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. When she did, she came face to face with what she was certain was a pirate.

It was unexpected and terrifying. Aliesie wanted to scream, but all that came out was air. Her mouth and throat were dry, and no matter what she did, she couldn't make a sound.

"CALM," the pirate barked.

The pirate must have seen the terror on Aliesie's face, and tried to calm her down, but Aliesie was too terrified and still too fuzzy from being drugged to make sense of it.

Aliesie saw a door behind the pirate and made a break for it, though she had no balance. She thought she must have been kidnapped and brought aboard their pirate ship. That would explain why it felt like the room was spinning.

She staggered down a long dingy hallway, using the walls to hold herself up until she got to a more open room. The floorboards covered in dirt and the small table at the center of the room covered in papers. There was a couch in one of the corners facing a television that was on but muted. The only thing her eyes had managed to focus on was a short staircase that led upwards, likely leading to the deck of this pirate ship.

Again she staggered forward, launching herself into the table and used it for some stability until she reached the stairs. When she did, she crawled on her hands and knees to the top and pushed the door open. A wall of fresh air washed over her, and she took a deep breath, expecting the scent of brine and smelled earth instead.

She was shocked to find that she was nowhere near the ocean. She looked around for water but saw nothing but dirt and rocks. A vague outline of two figures stood some distance away, but she couldn't tell how far they were. She went outside to get away from the pirate, but with nothing to hold onto, she slipped to the ground and couldn't find the strength to back up.

She had landed with such force; the two figures ran over, she felt a set of hands grab her shoulders and pull her upright.

"Are you alright?!" a male voice asked. He sounded familiar, but she didn't know why.

"P-pirate…" she croaked.

"Pirate? Aliesie there is no pirate."

He knew her name, but she couldn't remember who he was.

"Eye-patch…" she croaked again. Her mouth was so dry; she would kill for just one drink.

"Drink this," he said.

She felt something cold and moist press against her lips. She gladly obeyed the order and guzzled down the refreshing, life-giving water. When it was gone, she was still thirsty. Whoever had given her the first glass knew that and offered her another, and another till her thirst finally quenched. She closed her eyes, unable to focus and she felt groggy, but the water helped.

"Where is Zell?" she asked, on the brink of tears as a name finally came to her.

"I am Zell," he answered with a chuckle.

She opened her eyes and saw a very blurry Zell. Relieved that he was telling the truth, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and started sobbing.

"It's alright. You're safe," he promised.

She felt his arms wrap around her, one on her back and the other under her knees, and in an instant, she was weightless as he carried her back inside.

"What did he inject her with?" a voice asked.

"I don't know. All he said was that it was a tranquilizer," Zell answered.

She felt herself being lowered down onto something soft, and then he let go of her. Her vision cleared, and she was able to look at her surroundings more quickly. Zell wasn't the only one in the room with her. There was the cowboy, the woman with the eye patch she'd mistaken for a pirate, a large bald man with dark skin, and a blonde man with a beard and a scar between his eyes.

She felt a chill run up her spine and reached to pull her sweater tighter around her torso, but it was gone.

"Here."

She turned to see Zell holding out his bright yellow hoodie. She took it without hesitation and pulled it over her head. It smelled like him, and it was still warm.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, "Who are all these people?"

"Well, the 'pirate' is Fujin, the bulky one is Raijin, and that's Seifer," he answered pointing to all of them.

"Hey, nice shirt chicken-wuss. Did your mommy buy that for you?" Seifer laughed mocking Zell's Chocobo shirt.

"No, I got it from your mom," Zell answered calmly. Over the years, he'd learned not to react to Seifer's comments with anger. Staying calm took all the fun out of it.

"Joke's on you, ya know," Raijin said, "Seifer ain't got a mom, ya know!"

He seemed proud at how he defended Seifer, but all it got him was a swift kick in the shin from Fujin.

"THINK!" she barked at him.

Aliesie laughed at the exchange. The three of them seemed to be close friends, but Zell didn't appear to care for them much. She wanted to ask why but decided to wait for another time.

She had no idea where she was, though, and no clue what was going to happen next. She also noticed that her father and Squall were nowhere to be found. She looked around the room to see if they were sitting off in a corner somewhere. Zell noticed her looking around and seemed to know what she was trying to find.

"Laguna got called back to Esthar. He left a few hours ago, and Squall is working on getting our transport back to Balamb," he explained.

Her heart sank. Zell was leaving? What was going to happen to her? She guessed that she would go likely to Esthar with Laguna or back to the palace, but she didn't want Zell to go.

"You're leaving?" she asked quietly.

He smiled.

"Well, yes, but you're coming with me. Squall and Irvine are going to stay here and try to help the three of them track down Dr. Miri,"

That sounded like a much better plan. She was confused about everything that was going on. She wanted to ask about what happened at the palace after she blacked out, but she also didn't.

* * *

A few hours later Squall returned and sent them to a nearby harbor where a large, white ship was docked. Men and women all dressed in white uniforms waited for them on deck. They boarded the ship and prepared to set sail.

This was exciting for Aliesie. She had never been on a boat before. She wasn't entirely sure what to expect, all she had ever read about were pirate ships. Everything was clean and well maintained, unlike the ships she'd read about in the library. She did get a little seasick, but she got over it once she was used to the waves. The ship could only spare one of the sleeping quarters, so they had to share, but neither complained. Aliesie was secretly glad. She felt safer with Zell near.

By the next evening, they were in Balamb. The small town wasn't at all what Aliesie expected. She had expected something like Esthar, the booming metropolis, but she wasn't disappointed by how small it was. She was relieved Balamb was just a small, quaint little fishing town. It meant she was less likely to get lost if separated from Zell.

The sun was just about to set when they stepped on the docks. Zell saluted what was likely the captain of the ship and thanked him for bringing them safely home. This was Zell's home, Aliesie realized. The place where he'd grown up, and she tried to picture what it would be like to live here.

"What happens now?" she asked as they left the harbor on foot.

"We pick up a SeeD vehicle at the train station and head to Garden," he said taking her hand.

The walk to the train station was quiet. Zell was enjoying Aliesie's enthusiasm at visiting Balamb for the first time. She was interested in the street vendors and Zell realized she probably hadn't seen something like that before. Balamb was a tourist town after all, and it could be entertaining, though Aliesie wasn't hard to entertain. If it weren't for the fact that he had to report back to Garden as soon as possible, he would have taken her around to every street vendor in town. He made a mental note to take her out one night and let her go nuts.

When they got to the train station, Zell unlocked one of the vehicles with his SeeD ID number and was about to climb in, when he was hit by what felt like a bag of bricks.

"ZELL! FANCY MEETING YOU HERE!" Selphie shrieked as her arms snaked around his neck and she clung to his back.

"Hey, Selphie."

She dropped to the ground and bounced around like a small dog, full of excitement. She had been in Trabia for a few years handling the rebuild of Trabia Garden. She usually stayed year round and only came back to Balamb on special occasions.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Squall told me to pick Rinoa up at the resort in Galbadia and bring her home!" She answered, "So, can I get a ride?"

He had no problem giving her a ride, but she said she was picking up Rinoa, and Rinoa was nowhere to be seen.

"Way to ditch me!"

On cue, Rinoa appeared, out of breath and very annoyed.

"Sorry, Rin! But I got us a ride!" Selphie said.

Zell only rolled his eyes and gestured for everyone to get into the car. Selphie ran around to the passenger side, intending to sit up front but was taken by surprise when she saw Aliesie already sitting there.

"Oh, HI!" she said. "Zell? Introduce us."

"Oh, this is Aliesie," he answered with a smile. "Aliesie, this is Selphie, Irvine's girlfriend,"

"Ex-girlfriend," Selphie corrected, "That meanie ditched me one too many times!"

Zell was trying to be patient, but Selphie looked like she was going to stand at the passenger side window start talking to Aliesie, so he decided to head a pre-emptive strike before Selphie got too deep in conversation.

"Selphie get in the car!" he said. He hadn't intended to sound harsh, but the pouty face Selphie had made told him it had come out that way.

She jumped into the back with Rinoa and shut the door

.

The ride was not quiet. Selphie talked a million miles a minute, mostly about what was happening at Trabia. They had recently started accepting students again, and things were slowly returning to normal. It had taken longer to rebuild than originally planned but they had gotten it done, and that was all that mattered.

Selphie had also asked Aliesie a long string of questions, most of them revolving around what it was like to be royalty, and what it was like to grow up with Laguna around all the time. She had also announced that she would be taking Aliesie shopping in the coming days, which was probably not a bad idea, considering everything Aliesie owned was now a pile of ashes, and the only clothes she had, she was wearing.

When they were finally in sight of Garden, all conversation stopped as Aliesie gaped in awe at the sheer size of it. It was about the same size as the Centran Palace, but this place was new to her, and the architecture was fascinating.

"Wow…" she whispered.

She was adorable; Zell couldn't help but smile.

Her face fell as they entered the garage. Once they exited the car, Zell had to take Aliesie to see the headmaster. Selphie and Rinoa had said their goodbyes and Zell led Aliesie to the elevator.

When they reached the third floor, Zell pulled Aliesie towards the double doors straight ahead. On the other side, Cid was expecting them. Zell stood at attention and saluted him the same way he had the ship captain. Cid nodded, and Zell relaxed.

"Squall told me everything so far," Cid started. "I've had the housekeeping staff put together the executive suite for our visiting Princess."

"Everything should be all set. How was your trip here?" he asked.

"It was uneventful Sir," Zell answered.

"I'm glad to hear it. I'm sure both of you would like to rest for a while. I'll expect a full report from you tomorrow Zell," Cid said as he walked them to the door.

"Yes Sir," Zell replied. "Let me know when you're free."

"Princess, please feel free to make yourself at home. You're welcome to stay as long as you like," Cid said with a sweet smile.

"Thank you," she replied.

She had only been in Balamb for a short time, but already everyone was treating her so kindly. It was a sharp contrast from what she had been used to in Centra. There she was surrounded by greed and vanity. If someone was nice to her, it was because they had wanted something from her, but not here. Here they were nice even though she had nothing to offer, and she again thought about what it would be like to live here, surrounded by all these nice people. It was something she could get used too.

Zell pulled Aliesie down the hallway to another double door that led into what looked like a luxury hotel room. Everything was white. It had a full living room and kitchen; the bedroom had a king sized bed with crisp white linens and a walk-in closet. The bathroom was white marble with a Jacuzzi bathtub, but the most amazing part of it was the view. She could see everything, from the mountains down to the forest, even the beach.

"Welcome to your home away from home," Zell said with is arms outstretched, "It's no royal palace, but it's got awesome food, warm beds, and the best part about it is, you'll be perfectly safe here."

She hadn't realized how tired she was until now; she hadn't slept well on the ship. Everything had happened all at once, and even though she felt safe with Zell around, she suddenly realized, she was very far from home.

It was terrifying.


	9. Friendly Family Gatherings

"Gently!" Zell yelled for the fifth time.

"I'm trying, stop yelling at me!" Aliesie snapped back.

"I'm only yelling because you aren't listening to me!"

"I am listening, it's just… not as easy as I thought it would be…" she pouted.

"I'm telling you exactly what to do, you can't just whip it all around like you've been doing, you have to ease it gently…" he explained again, guiding her hand. "See how it just slid right in?"

"Oh… that was easy…" she said with a smile.

"See? Now if you do that every time you'll…"

 _GRRRRRRRRRRRR!_

"What did I just get done saying?!" he scolded.

"I'm sorry! I was trying to do it… but it wouldn't go!"

"You have to push in the clutch before shifting…" he sighed.

 _GRRRRRRRRRR!_

"I'm trying, but it's hard, you made it look so easy,"

"It is easy, push in the clutch with your left foot, and then shift into gear, once you're in gear, THEN you release the clutch," he explained as calmly as he could.

"You're going to destroy the transmission if you keep grinding the gears like that!"

He was trying his best to be patient with her, but they had been at this for an hour, and they were barely out of the parking garage. He was tempted just to have her pull over so he could take the wheel, but she had wanted to learn how to drive, and Zell had promised he would teach her. She just wasn't picking it up as fast as everything else.

In the six weeks, since she had arrived at Garden she had learned to do quite a few things: cooking, baking, how to do laundry, she had even learned how to swim, but driving was not her Forte. She wouldn't stop grinding the gears, and every time she did, it made Zell clench his jaw and sent a shiver down his spine. It was like nails on a chalkboard.

 _GRRRRRRRRR!_

"Alright, I can't take it anymore. At this rate, it will take forever to get there, pull over," Zell ordered.

She silently pulled off to the side of the road. When she came to a stop, the car jerked forward and the engine shut off.

"What just happened?!" she asked pulling her hands away from the steering wheel.

"You stalled it," he laughed, "it happens when you stop the car in gear without using the clutch."

He reached down between them and pulled up on the parking brake before opening his door to get out and walk over to the driver's side.

"You're mad aren't you?" she asked when he opened the driver's side door.

"I'm frustrated, not angry," he clarified, gesturing for her to go to the other side.

"I don't want to have to replace the transmission, so why don't you watch what I do on the way to town and you can try again on the way back to Garden."

She sighed in defeat and slid over to the passenger side, letting him take over. He reached over and took her hand and kissed it before starting the engine again.

"I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time," he said with a smile. She offered a weak smile in response before turning to stare out the windshield.

She didn't say anything the rest of the way into Balamb, but she did watch what he did while driving for a little while, before rolling her window all the way down and just enjoying the wind and the sun. Zell found it hard to focus on driving with her hair blowing all over the place; she looked so peaceful.

It was pretty amazing how relaxed she had been since arriving at Garden. She had a hard time adjusting in the first week; she wasn't used to her new freedom. Granted, she wasn't allowed to leave the Garden without Zell, not that she would, but she wasn't trapped. She was able to come out of her shell and explore who she was. Zell was amazed at the changes he saw in her and all the things that she seemed to know how to do. In addition to being an amazing artist, she was pretty talented at playing piano as well. Apparently, Laguna had insisted on her taking piano and singing lessons, although Zell hadn't heard her sing yet, so he had no idea if she was any good.

When he first met her, she was quiet and extremely self-conscious; now, she was outgoing, she smiled a lot, and people seemed drawn to her. A lot of the underclassmen looked up to her, mostly the girls, but even some of the boys too. At least ever since she was helping Edea with some of the art classes for the younger students, she was good at it, and she enjoyed it.

Zell wanted to take credit for the change in her, but if he was honest, most of the credit had to go to Selphie and Rinoa. They were, surprisingly, a significant influence on her. She had never had a chance to be around women her age before, or even have real friends for that matter, and now, she was an entirely different person. She was happy.

"how long will it take to get to Dollet?" she asked.

"It's only a forty-five-minute train ride," he answered.

He was slightly nervous about taking her to Dollet. Not because this would technically be their first real date, but because he was taking her to his cousin's wedding with him. He was worried about if his family would like her, not that that would change the way he felt about her, or even affect their relationship. But he did want them to like her; he didn't want to feel like he was losing his family for her, even though he was willing to accept that possibility; he preferred that it didn't happen.

"do you think they'll like me?" she asked quietly.

 _Fuck, I hope so…_ he thought.

"I'm sure they'll love you,"

It wasn't a lie; he honestly didn't know how is family would react to her, but the way she narrowed her eyes at him made it seem like she heard what was in his head. If what Squall and Seifer had told him was true, it was entirely possible that she had heard it.

Zell had been overwhelmed with all the information Squall, and Seifer had given him about being a knight to a sorceress, telepathic communication was at the top of the list of scary thoughts for him. Granted, it would have its advantages, especially when he would have a hard time organizing his thoughts and figuring out what to say. But some of his thoughts he wanted to keep private, especially some of the thoughts he had about Aliesie, and he was sure she had some of the same reservations.

* * *

"Your plan is stupid," Seifer announced loudly.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Seifer is right, this plan is pretty reckless," Squall agreed reluctantly.

"Oh, C'mon guys, where's your sense of adventure?" Irvine asked with a chuckle, "I think it's a great plan, and just think of all the beautiful women we'll get to meet tonight?"

"That is why you aren't going to be my escort," Alana said flatly. "it's the best chance we have to search Lord Crowley's estate."

"That's all well and good, but what about the fact that we're going to be in your father's house? Not to mention the fact that your son, who is also the king, is going to be there too," Seifer argued.

"Masquerade," She said.

"And what if he dances with you?" he replied.

"Do I need to explain to you what a masquerade is?" she asked.

Seifer narrowed his eyes at her and let out a hefty sigh, grumbling under his breath.

Squall only rolled his eyes at their silly argument. They had spent the last six weeks chasing down leads on Domino's whereabouts and kept coming up short. Their first stop after sending Zell and Aliesie back to Garden was Dr. Miri's office, but when they arrived, the entire building was engulfed in flames. Any information they would have found there was now lost. The only option they had after that was to search the remains of the palace, but they couldn't do that until the palace guard and police finished their searches. Once they got their chance, the area had been picked clean of any information that might have survived the fire. Squall had been mentally berating Zell for using Ifrit instead of a GF that caused less combustion. Now, the only lead they had left to follow, was searching Lord Crowley's estate.

When the police concluded their investigation, Lord Crowley was declared deceased, along with Dr. Miri, after their bodies were found in what was left of the throne room. Even though Zell had told them everything that happened in the throne room, Alana was confident that Domino would not go down that quickly. According to her, Domino was likely just possessing Dr. Miri, that way, she could get closer to Alana, and then Aliesie when she failed in her attempt to acquire Alana's power.

Since Lord Crowley was dead, his title, land holdings and the rest of his estate went to the only beneficiary in his will. His grandson, King Damion. Aliesie got nothing; she was one the main suspect in starting the fire. Though no one could provide proof one way or another, she was wanted for questioning, and if she were to return to Centra, she would be taken into custody immediately.

So now they were left with figuring out how they would gain access to the Crowley estate. Squall had been somewhat lucky the first time he went, though according to Alana that was his way of getting information out of someone. He had likely passed the information on to Domino, which would explain her sudden change in tactics.

They were almost at a dead end when Squall had received an invitation to the estate, from the King, for a masquerade ball. He had no idea why and he was suspicious of it. It didn't help that Alana was fully on board with going to the party and she only had a half-cocked plan.

Her plan had just been to accompany Squall to the party, Seifer, Irvine Raijin and Fujin were supposed to find their way to infiltrate the party without making a scene or getting caught. That was it. Seifer and Squall were also the only ones that weren't on board with it. But as much as Squall hated agreeing with Seifer, he hated half-assed plans even more.

"Do you at least have some idea of how they're supposed to get in?" Squall asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Not a clue," Alana answered calmly.

"What if someone gets caught? What if YOU get found out?" Seifer asked.

"We'll all be in contact with each other," she stated.

"how do you expect us to do that?" Seifer asked, starting to get irritated.

"With these…" she answered, pulling out what looked like tiny wireless earbuds.

"What are those?" Irvine asked excitedly.

"They are miniature Bluetooth earbuds, pretty much all we have to do is hold a conference call while were there and we'll be able to hear everything said," She explained proudly.

"How the fuck are you getting this stuff?" Seifer asked, "I mean seriously; you've got explosives, firearms, gasses and now these things? Where are they coming from?"

"none of your damn business, that's where" Alana answered with a smile.

"And how do you pay for it all?" he continued his line of questions, ignoring her brush off.

Squall had wondered that himself, he just never bothered to ask it. He had just figured she either had lots of money stashed away somewhere and had a private dealer or she had a wealthy benefactor.

"Seifer…" she sighed, "I'm not going to tell you, so just stop worrying about it alright?"

"What do you have to hide?"

"I have nothing to hide, but I also have no obligation to tell you!"

Seifer glared at the former Queen, and she glared right back. Squall only rolled his eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Do you think we'll be able to pull this off?" Squall asked.

"Yes, I believe we can," Alana answered, happy for the distraction from her battle of wills with the ex-knight.

"Then I guess we better get ready for this stupid party," the commander grumbled, leaving the room.

* * *

"Oh wow! This architecture is amazing!" Aliesie was in awe of Dollet as soon as they got off the train.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing," Zell agreed, though he wasn't quite as amazed as she was. He had seen it several times.

She was amazed by nearly everything today. Before getting on the train, Zell took her to see all the street vendors in the town. She had been so excited, flitting quickly between all the vendors, that if Zell hadn't been in such good shape, he would have had a hard time keeping up with her. He had bought her a few little trinkets she liked before he reluctantly pulled her away so they could catch the train.

She was even amazed by the train ride. Of course, she had never been on a train before, so this was a day full of firsts for her. He couldn't help but smile at how adorable her excitement was.

"We should get checked in at the hotel," he said after picking up their bags.

"Oh, I suppose you're right," she replied, slightly disappointed.

"We can do some sightseeing tomorrow, after the wedding."

She offered him a big cheesy grin in response. It was yet another trait she got from Laguna, though Zell thought it looked better on her.

Zell lead the way to the hotel, a bag in each hand and his phone going off in his pocket. He wasn't able to check it until they got to the front desk at the hotel to check in.

"Hi, we're checking in, the name is Zell Dincht," he told the man at the desk before pulling his phone out to see five missed calls and three texts from his mother.

 _Where are you?_

 _Aren't you here yet?_

 _We need you!_

Zell wasn't sure if he should be worried or not so he decided it was in his best interest just to call her back first. His call didn't even finish its first ring before she answered.

"Are you here yet?" she asked him frantically.

"Ma, I just got to the hotel, what's going on?"

"Come to the ballroom; we need your help!" she said, before abruptly hanging up.

"What was that all about?" Aliesie asked grabbing the keycard from the man behind the desk.

"I have no idea, but apparently I'm needed in the ballroom," he sighed.

After asking the man at the desk to have their bags sent up to their room Zell lead the way to the ballroom, and when they arrived, they found the room full of round tables with nothing but white table clothes covering them. At the far end of the hall were his mother, his aunt who looked like a slightly younger version of his mother with much shorter hair and his cousin, a tall man with short dark brown hair and brown eyes. All three of them were staring at a binder and bickering among themselves.

"Alright, I'm here, what's the problem?" Zell called.

"Dude! I am so glad to see you!" his cousin smiled and ran to give him a hug.

"Hey Reggie," Zell said breathlessly, taken by surprise.

"Zell, do you understand any of this?" his Ma asked, showing him the binder.

"Hello to you too Ma," Zell laughed, "This is Aliesie by the way. Aliesie, this is my Ma, my cousin Reggie, and my Aunt Patty."

Aliesie smiled and waved while Zell turned his attention to the binder he received, and it looked like complete gibberish. It was full of diagrams and color swatches. He had no idea what he was even looking at or how to interpret what he was seeing.

"The fuck is this?" he asked flipping through the pages.

"Zell, language!" His Ma scolded.

"Sorry…" he mumbled.

"The event planner quit without notice, and now we have to set up the ballroom for the reception tomorrow, all we were left with was this book. We figured with all your fancy SeeD training you'd be able to figure this out," Reggie sighed, crossing his arms.

"Well, you were wrong," Zell laughed. "I have no idea how to set a table; I don't even know what a salad fork looks like!"

"It's that one…" Aliesie whispered, pointing to one of the forks on the table.

Everyone but Zell gave her a shocked look that then turned to excitement. Zell had almost forgotten that she was royalty, so of course, she would know what a proper place setting would look like, not to mention she would be able to set one up.

"Damn Zell, where'd you find this one? I like her!" Reggie laughed.

"The Centran royal palace," Zell answered flatly.

Reggie had apparently thought it was a joke, so he started laughing, "Good one! That was funny."

"What's funny is the fact that you think I'm joking," Zell smiled.

"So, are you a maid or something?" Patty asked Aliesie.

"No, but I did have to do my cleaning." Aliesie shrugged.

The thought suddenly occurred to Zell that he probably shouldn't be telling people who she was, especially since she was still wanted for questioning. He knew he would be able to trust his Ma, but there was a small chance some other member of his family would turn her in or report on her whereabouts.

"She was part of the kitchen staff." Zell lied.

Aliesie gave him a confused look, but she went along with it and didn't correct him. Zell silently thanked her for helping him, and he was pretty happy that they didn't ask any more questions about it. They did, however, quickly put her to work setting the tables and by the time she was done the room looked spectacular.

After all of that was finished, they made their way to the suite so they could get ready for the rehearsal dinner and the entire trip was quiet, but Zell knew she probably wanted to know why he had lied to his family about her. He could practically feel the questions emanating from her.

"They didn't need to know," he whispered. "Your safety is more important to me than my family knowing the truth."

He reached for her hand in the elevator and pulled her closer, lightly kissing her hands before leaning in to plant a soft kiss on her lips. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. He then wrapped his arms around her and slid his hands down her waist, guiding her back until she pressed against the elevator wall. Her hand slid up his neck and laced through his hair.

He was suddenly snapped out of his lust-filled trance, when the elevator dinged, signaling that they were on the right floor, and he slowly pulled away from her.

"We should go get ready," he cooed.

She nodded her head slightly, before letting Zell lead her down the hall to their room. Both of them were still reeling from their brief moment of passion. When they got to the chamber Zell's phone buzzed in his pocket again. He pulled it out to find a text from Quistis.

 _Something happened, the garden is mobilizing, we will be picking the two of you up in the morning._

Quistis had been left in charge since Squall was still on his mission so if the Garden did need to be mobilized she did have the authority to do so. Zell was worried about what would cause the Garden to mobilize though, last time it was missiles, and Zell had a feeling it had something to do with Domino.

"I don't like this…" Squall mumbled, straightening his tie for the millionth time.

"Calm down, it'll be fine," Alana said trying to calm his nerves.

They had been stuck in the back of the limo for over a half hour now, and Squall was almost sure it was because of one of the others making a scene trying to crash the party, but Alana assured him everything was fine. It wasn't very comforting, he hadn't liked the plan in the first place, there were too many unknown variables and Squall didn't think they were prepared enough for this kind of operation.

Being stuck with Alana wasn't exactly the worst case scenario. She kept to herself and didn't try to force a relationship with him like Laguna would have. It was still uncomfortable, though: he had questions he wanted to ask her, mainly about her life with Laguna, but he also didn't want to ask them at the same time. It was something that weighed heavily on his consciousness, knowing that Laguna had a relationship with his mother and that he had started a family with her.

"Can…can I ask you something, Alana?"

"What is it?"

"Did you and Laguna…ever get married?"

"No," She smiled "We both lost our spouses, and we just didn't want to remarry, he wanted Raine to be his only wife, and I wanted Kaz to be my only husband."

Squall got some comfort from that. Laguna had loved his mother so much that he couldn't wear a ring from another woman. He, surprisingly, kind of admired Laguna for it, just a little bit.

"Did you have a knight?" he asked, "When you were a sorceress?"

"Yes, I did." she answered quietly.

He wasn't so dense to not see that she didn't want to talk about that particular subject, so he didn't pry, of course, now he didn't have time to. The limo finally made it to the front door of the estate where one of the valets pulled the door open, and he helped Alana out of the car before clearing the way for Squall.

Squall was a bundle of nerves. He kept a vigilant eye on everything around them; there were security guards everywhere, and all of them had firearms. He was completely unarmed and about ready to take off when Alana wrapped her arm around his.

"Calm down, it'll be alright," she whispered, giving his arm a gentle squeeze.

"Hey, do we have a code word?" Seifer asked through the earbud.

Squall had forgotten about having it in and the line open. Then it hit him that Seifer probably heard their conversation in the car.

"Code word for what?" Squall muttered, pushing back the slight fear of potential heckling.

"For if someone fucks up and we have to get out!" Seifer explained.

"Why do we need a code word? Wouldn't we just say we need to get out?" Squall said flatly.

"Hey, Leonhart, has anyone ever told you, that you have the emotional range of a potato?" Seifer joked.

"Fuck off, Almasy!"

"Everyone! The code word is POTATO!" Seifer announced, which was followed by laughter from everyone else on the line.

"I hate you," Squall grumbled.

"You love me!" Seifer laughed.

"Why can't the password be taters?" Irvine asked.

"Because fuck you, that's why. The word is POE-TAY-TOE!"

"No man, it's pronounced POE-TAH-TOE! Ya' know?" Raijin chimed.

"Your mom is pronounced POE-TAH-HOE ha-ha!" Seifer mocked.

"POTATO!" Fujin barked.

"All of you shut up! You're tying the line up with your useless bickering! Now, unless you have pertinent information to share, I suggest you keep the line clear!" Alana hissed.

Squall was only somewhat thankful that they all provided him with a distraction from his crippling anxiety as they entered the house and made their way to the ballroom.

There were people everywhere, all of them were dressed in what looked like 19th-century clothing, which made him feel really out of place. None of them even noticed when he and Alana arrived, yet he felt like there was a target on his back.

"Commander Leonhart?"

Squall turned to see a tall man with dark hair that was slicked back, he was wearing similar clothing to the rest of the party goers; only his seemed more elaborate. He had on a white ruffled shirt with a white scarf tied around his neck, a gold vest that went down past his hips, matching gold pants that only went down past his knees, white tights with black shoes that had a buckle over the top and a large royal blue coat that had gold accents around the edge and oversized cuffs and high collar. He looked like royalty.

"Yes?" Squall answered.

"I'm glad to meet you finally," the man said with a big smile, his teeth surprisingly white.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too."

 _Whoever you are._ He thought.

"I must say, I was surprised that you accepted my invitation."

 _He's the king_. Squall mentally kicked himself. He had never been around royalty before and wasn't exactly sure what to do in this situation. Should he bow? salute or keep standing there in silence, staring at him, like an idiot.

"It's not often I get an invitation from royalty, how could I refuse?" he lied.

"Was that your wife I saw?"

How was he supposed to answer that? When had Alana left his side? Did she see the king coming and run off? If he said no, then there was a good chance it could start a rumor of an affair. If he said yes, then he might want to meet her. This was a no-win situation for him.

After a prolonged silence, the king narrowed his eyes at the commander and flashed a suspicious smile. Squall still didn't know what to tell him.

"Tell him I'm your aunt," Alana's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

"Or you could tell him she's your step mother!" Seifer laughed.

"Seifer, don't cause trouble, Damion isn't an idiot," Alana scolded.

"She's my aunt," Squall said with a fake smile.

"I didn't know Laguna had a sister," Damion mused.

"On your mother's side." Alana coached.

"It's my mother's sister, I came to Centra to meet her and decided to bring her here with me." He hadn't expected the lie to flow out of him so quickly.

"Nice story man!" Irvine praised.

"Well, that was kind of you," the king smiled. "I would like to speak with you privately if you don't mind?"

"I suppose it's fine, it is your party after all."

The king chuckled in response and gestured for Squall to follow him out of the ballroom and up to the second floor. It was so quiet upstairs that you wouldn't even be able to guess there was a party going on. Damion lead Squall to a study, though it looked more like a trophy room. There was a wall covered in books behind a large mahogany desk, the rest of the walls were covered in wild animal heads, hanging from the ceiling was a giant crystal chandelier.

Damion headed directly for a globe that doubled as a bar and poured himself a drink. He offered one to Squall, but he declined the offer.

"So what did you want to talk about your majesty?"

"Please call me Damion!" He laughed.

"Alright… Damion… What would you like to talk about?"

"Our family," he smiled.

"OUR family? I'm not following?"

"It's quite fascinating if you think about it," the king laughed. "You and I are members of the most powerful family in the world!"

"How do you figure?" Squall asked.

"You are the Commander of SeeD, son of the president of Esthar, married to the daughter of the Galbadian president, and I am the step-son of the Esthar president and the Centran King," Damion answered, taking a sip of his drink.

"If we got Aliesie to marry someone like the Duke of Dollet and Ellone to marry into the Trabian royal family, we could rule the world!" he continued.

"I fail to see how that matters. besides, you and I aren't technically related."

"We are brothers, Squall," Damion chuckled, taking a sip of his drink.

"Not really, your mother had a child with my father, they didn't even get married," Squall snapped.

"You may see it that way, but Laguna is the only father I've ever known…It kills me that I had to cut him off the way I did."

After the palace fire, the King and nobility created a trade embargo with Esthar, blaming Laguna for the fire, all communications ended after that. Squall hadn't talked to Laguna since he was forced to go back to Esthar, but he knew how Laguna was and even though he could be a complete idiot, he likely also felt incredibly guilty about the palace burning down. Though it was Zell who should feel guilty, it was Laguna that took the blame for it.

"I would like to apologize for the destruction of your palace," Squall offered.

"And I would like to apologize for your years of abandonment and neglect," Damion replied sarcastically. "Does that apology make up for it?"

"No, it doesn't." Squall was trying hard to hide the anger that was building up inside him.

"Why do you want to rule the world?" the commander asked, changing the subject.

"Not me, someone stronger!" the king smiled.

"I don't understand? Why are you telling me all this?"

Damion had nothing to say about that, but he did seem to find it amusing. He laughed as he rounded the desk and took a seat.

Squall didn't like the way Damion was staring at him. He felt like a piece of meat on display in a butcher shop. He was unarmed, completely helpless and alone with someone who was always surrounded by men trained to kill for him. Though that didn't make them much different, Squall just didn't like it.

"Well, I should be getting back to my aunt," Squall made his way back to the door but was stopped by the king.

"I'm sure that would be okay if your aunt were here."

Damion's tone sounded vaguely threatening. Squall's first instinct was to stay and fight, but he had no weapon, he needed to get out.

"Did my mother think I wouldn't recognize her?" Damion laughed.

"Potato…" Squall whispered.

"Fuck…" he heard Seifer hiss in his ear.

"Is that your go word?" Damion laughed. "If you need to go, by all means, don't let me stop you."

Squall opened the door to go but paused again.

"I'm sorry about your father." Damion joked.

 _What did he mean by that?_ Squall thought as he walked out the door without another word to the king.

* * *

Laguna couldn't focus on any of his work. He had entirely too much on his mind. Between not hearing any progress from Alana or Squall, the safety of Aliesie and Rinoa, and being cut off from Damion after what happened to the palace, Laguna felt completely helpless for the first time in over twenty years. He couldn't do any more to help them, and it weighed hefty on his mind. Though he was able to take some comfort in knowing that Squall could handle things, he just didn't like feeling useless.

Since he couldn't focus on any of his work, he decided to take a small break to look over the city. The lights and continuous movement of traffic were soothing, and the classical piano music he had playing helped to calm his nerves. He was so relaxed that he had almost fallen asleep, so he decided it was best to get back to work.

When he spun back around in his chair to face his desk, he came face to face with a woman. He hadn't heard her come in, and he had no idea who she was, but something about her gave him an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach and sent a chill up his spine.

She was beautiful; there was no doubt about that. She looked no older than twenty-five. She had long sleek silver hair draped over her shoulder, her eyes were the color of ice, her skin was pale but not as light as her hair. She wore a long red evening gown with spaghetti straps slits up the sides showing her long slender legs and matching strappy high heeled shoes.

"Mr. president?" her voice was like ice.

"Y-Yes?" he stuttered.

Her bright red lips curled into a terrifying smile. Laguna instinctively reached for his phone to call security but was stopped when his letter opener got lodged in his hand causing him to scream out in pain.

"I didn't want to have to do this, but those girls of yours just won't listen to reason," she sighed, clicking her tongue against her teeth.

"You, you're Domino?!" A new sense of fear washed over him as she reached over and tapped him on the nose.

"Boop," she said with a smile.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want to send them a message," she answered, taking a seat on his lap and leaning her head down next to his ear. "If you aren't safe from me, they aren't safe from me," she whispered before biting his ear lobe.


	10. Ticking clocks

It had been years since Alana had been in that house. Nothing had changed, the décor was the same, even a vase she had broken as a child was fixed and still on display in the parlor.

After she had ducked away from Squall, she snuck past the velvet ropes upstairs while coaching Squall through the Bluetooth. But once all that was settled, she had to take it out. She couldn't deal with the bickering that had started between all of them.

It was hard being there again; it brought up so many memories, both good and bad but she had a job to do. She had to find whatever information she could, and she knew how her father was. He didn't hide any valuable information in his study; he hid it in his bedroom. Squall was the perfect distraction for her son. Seifer and the others were likely being a distraction to any security at the party, leaving her free to search her father's old room.

She made her way down the hall as quietly as possible so as not to draw attention to herself. When she arrived at her father's door, she slowly opened it but what was on the other side of the door was not what she expected.

Instead of the bedroom she remembered, it opened to the first-floor parlor. The windows didn't reflect the fact that it was dark out, but instead looked like it was around noon.

"Good afternoon darling."

She turned to see her father, very much alive and reading a newspaper as he entered the parlor. He didn't look the same, he was thinner and had more hair. It was like he was younger.

"Big plans today?" he asked, taking a seat in one of the armchairs.

"W-what?" she asked breathlessly.

"Well you're unusually dressed for a Wednesday afternoon." he said glancing at her momentarily.

Wednesday? That wasn't right. It was Saturday and certainly not afternoon.

She looked down at the floor for a moment to try and puzzle out what was happening, when she noticed her clothes were different. Instead of the powder blue evening gown she had been wearing, she had on a black pant suit with a purple silk blouse with black stiletto heels. Her hair was somehow longer as well, it hung down to her waist, the way it did in her younger years.

There was something familiar about this. The outfit, her father, but she couldn't figure out why, or what was even going on.

"My Lord Crowley," one of the attendants, said with a bow.

Alana recognized him. He was one of her father's favorites, but he had been dead for years …

"You have a visitor." He continued.

"Who is it?" Lord Crowley asked.

"The crown prince." The attendant announced.

On cue, before Alana even had time to think, there he was. A face she hadn't seen in over twenty years.

"Kaz…" she breathed.

He was how she remembered him His dark blue eyes, his light brown hair; she had almost forgotten how tall he was. She felt like her heart would beat out of her chest as tears welled up in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him and breathe in his intoxicating scent once again. She wanted time to stop so that she could stare at him for an eternity.

He stood motionless in front of her almost as if time had ceased. She looked around to see everything was motionless, except for her. It did nothing but add to the confusion of what was currently happening.

"Strange, I thought he would be taller…"

She knew that voice.

Alana turned to see a pale woman with glassy eyes, silver hair wearing a blood red evening gown, leaning against the door frame.

"Who…? What…?" Alana couldn't form her thoughts into words.

"Oh come now," she smiled as she pushed away from the frame and sauntered over next to Alana. "you haven't forgotten me have you?" she pouted.

"D-Domino…" Alana stammered.

"I have to say; you looked much prettier with this long hair…" Domino mused, stroking a lock of Alana's hair.

"What is this?" Alana asked with a shaky voice.

"Nothing more than a memory," Domino made her way over to Kaz's still frozen form and ran her fingers over his shoulders. "I figured it would be easier this way."

"What way? What? What the hell is going on?" Alana was starting to get frustrated with this nonsense.

"Calm down doll face," Domino laughed, "I only want to talk, then I'll let you get back to your memories."

"Talk about what?" Alana demanded.

"For six years we've played this game. I leave you a trail; you follow it… it's been fun, really, but it's over now." Domino explained, lounging across one of the sofas.

"I'll tell you now; I'm currently in Esthar."

Alana narrowed her eyes at the woman in red. Why was she suddenly so free with information? Was it a trap? She could have been lying of course, which she likely was.

"Why would you tell me that? Now I can just go after you." Alana chuckled.

"Sure you could," Domino nodded, "but you won't." A wicked smile spread across her face.

"Why won't I?" the former Queen asked dryly.

"Because," the witch said, returning to her feet. "you will be busy here in your memories, while I play around in your body."

"What makes you think I'll let you do that?" Alana laughed.

"What makes you think you have a choice?" Domino replied flatly.

"But, if you need some incentive…"

With a snap of her fingers, everything had changed. It was dark again, and water could be heard dripping in the distance. The walls were damp stone covered in grime and a faint smell of blood hung in the air.

"Where is this place?" Alana asked with a shaky voice.

"The Esthar dungeon." Another wicked smile decorated the witches face. "You see my dear if you try to fight my control you will lose something you care deeply about."

"What are you talking about?"

With another snap of her fingers, the room was illuminated. It was even more disgusting in the light, but all Alana could focus on was the figure hanging from the wall. His clothes were in tatters, bloody wounds decorated his skin, and his head hung defeated and tired.

"Laguna!" Alana shrieked.

"He can't hear you!" Domino laughed.

"Is he alive?"

"For now. He lives so long as he has a purpose."

"What purpose is that?" Alana heard her voice start to crack.

"A bargaining tool." With another snap of her fingers, they were back in the frozen parlor. "He is your weakness. He's also the weakness of your daughter, his daughter-in-law and even though he will never admit it aloud, he is also commander Leonhart's weakness as well."

"So, be a good little doll and enjoy your memories." She said, patting Alana on the head. "Not that you have a choice in the matter." She continued with a laugh.

In the blink of an eye, she was gone, and everything was moving again.

Alana couldn't help but go through the motions of everything that had happened, the day she met her husband.

"Your highness," she said with a curtsy "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She had no control of her body, but her mind was screaming.

* * *

 _"The hell did that woman go?"_ Seifer thought as he silently roamed the halls _._

They needed to leave, but as usual, Alana had gone off on her own and not told anyone where. Seifer had made his way upstairs without any detection, but he wasn't sure if he could do the same going back down. If it were up to him, they would have just busted in and gotten the information they needed the old fashioned way. By force. But no, he had to follow Alana's stupid plan.

"Rai, Fu? You guys got anything?" he asked through the Bluetooth.

"NEGATIVE." Fujin barked.

Seifer let out an exasperated sigh as he turned the corner to go down the next corridor.

"Where have you been? We have to go now!" Seifer scolded as he saw Alana making her way towards him.

"I'm sorry, I was searching my father's old room." She barked back.

"Find anything?"

"Nothing."

Of course. All this work for no reward. A small part of Seifer wanted just to let her have it for leading them on this wild Chocobo chase, but now wasn't the time for it. He would be sure to make time for it later.

"you happen to know a shortcut out of here?" he asked crossing his arms.

"There's a secret staircase that leads to the back garden," she said pulling Seifer down the hall. "we should be able to get to the palace grounds without being seen."

Before they had started this venture, they agreed that the lake on the palace grounds would be their rendezvous point.

Seifer followed silently, but he couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right. She seemed different, but he couldn't quite pinpoint why. Maybe it was the fact that Alana was pulling him along by his hand. She had never done that before. Most of the time they had no contact other than when she would give him a quick pull in the right direction, or a tap on the shoulder and he would just follow after her. It wasn't like she was hard to keep up with, she was relatively short, three of her steps equaled one of his.

The fact that she seemed to refuse to make eye contact with him was strange also. When he first met her he was surprised she did, most people were too intimidated by him. She was one of the few people in his life that was never afraid to look him in the eye and tell him when he was bullheaded. Which according to Alana, was quite often.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked when they got to the lake.

"Nothing, why?"

Seifer narrowed his eyes at her, but she didn't seem to notice she was too busy staring into the water. Something must have happened to her in that room. This whole night was strange and needed to end already. They didn't get any new information, and now Alana was acting strangely.

"Is everyone here?" Squall asked when he finally arrived.

"AFFIRMATIVE," Fujin answered after looking around.

"Good."

"That was the biggest waste of time you have ever put us through." The former Knight growled.

"You're right, I'm sorry."

Alana never conceded to anything that fasts. After four years of working with her, she had never once admitted he was right. She would argue the color of the sky with him, even if he told her exactly where it was on the color scale. It was such a regular part of their dynamic that even Leonhart noticed something was up, and he was usually pretty oblivious to most things.

"What do you think our next move should be?" Irvine asked, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen.

"I contacted Quistis a few hours ago, she going to get the Garden mobile and come get us. We'll figure out our next move after that I guess." Squall answered.

No one seemed to take issue with that, which was both strange and relieving for Squall. He was really in no mood for debate.

"We'll go get our things and head to the rally point." The commander continued.

Everyone nodded in agreement and started to leave, except for Seifer.

"Leonhart," He said just out of earshot of everyone. "we need to talk."

"About?"

"All of this had a very trap like feel to it," Seifer explained.

"I know. The question is; did we spring the trap?"

"Who knows; but something isn't right with Alana."

Squall hadn't been oblivious to it. It was entirely too easy for them to get in and out. The king had found him almost immediately and gotten into his head nearly as quickly. Alana was acting strangely now as well. Not to mention what Damian had said about Laguna.

 _"I'm sorry about your father..."_

Squall couldn't puzzle out what he had meant by that in the slightest. Was he apologizing for cutting ties with him? Or had something happened to Laguna? And if something had happened to him how did Damian know? Was he involved in it? This whole thing was infuriating. For every answer they got, one hundred more questions arose, and Squall just wanted to be done with all of it so he could go home.

"Stay close to Alana, make sure she's ok," Squall ordered. "Let's get going; I want to get as far away from this place as I can."

Seifer nodded and headed off while Squall pulled his phone out. He searched through his contacts till he got the one he wanted and selected the call button. It rang about ten times before going to voicemail.

 _"Hey! It's Papaguna! I'm a little tied up right now, but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as I'm free!"_

Squall let out a sigh before finally speaking, "Hey… call me back. Also, change your voicemail message, you sound extremely unprofessional."

* * *

Seifer did as he was told. It was a strange sensation for him, but it was something he would have done even if he hadn't been told too. Alana was quiet and distant. Two things that he wasn't used to seeing in her. He had tried to banter with her a few times but got nothing in return. He didn't like it, and no one else seemed to notice it.

By the time they got to the pick-up point the sky had opened up and let loose. Thunder, lightning, gale force wind and rain. It was almost like the country had been trying to kick them out by force. What was worse was that they had no cover from the rain. Within minutes they were soaked through to the bone. Everyone was shivering except for one person, Alana. She hadn't said a word since they left the party and even though it was cold and wet everyone chattered back and forth with each other now and then. Alana was still quiet. Almost like she didn't know what to say to anyone.

"Yo, Leonhart, when's Trepe getting here? I need to tell her how wet she made me!" Seifer joked, he didn't care much for the fact that Squall just ignored him.

When the Garden finally arrived, she was more alert but still too quiet. She was watching everything and listening but not contributing to the conversation at all. At one point he could almost swear he saw a flash of red pass across her eyes. He would find out whatever was going on with her.

"Squall, what are they doing here?" Quistis asked as soon as they go to the bridge.

"We've been working with them." Squall explain stripping off his wet coat. "have you heard anything from Laguna by chance?"

"No, why?" Quistis replied.

"I talked to him a few days ago, but that was it." Rinoa interrupted. "Do you think something happened?"

"I don't know; just something the king said to me is all."

Squall looked around quickly taking a survey of who was there. To his surprise, it was only Quistis and Rinoa.

"Where are Zell and Aliesie?" he asked.

"They went to his cousin's wedding in Dollet, Quistis texted Zell and told him we'd be picking them up tomorrow," Rinoa explained.

Seifer glanced over at Alana briefly to see a small smile flit across her face for a split second before vanishing.

"Selphie?" Irvine added.

"Sleeping," Quistis answered.

It was late, and sleeping sounded like a fantastic idea _. I guess we won't be able to do much just yet…_ Squall thought.

"Alright, let's all get some rest for now. We'll regroup tomorrow." Squall ordered. "Quistis, get them set up in one of the executive suites."

Quistis reluctantly agreed and saluted before Squall made his exit.

He headed down the hall to his garden apartment his mind kept racing through the events of the evening. _"Sorry about your father…" What had he meant by that?_ Squall couldn't get it out of his head. He had been so wrapped up in his head that he hadn't noticed Rinoa till she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I'm sure he'll be fine…" She said, trying to comfort him.

He wanted so much to believe her, and her words were slightly comforting.

"Thanks." He whispered, placing his hand over hers.

"Welcome home." She said with a slight squeeze.

* * *

"Zell, hurry up, or we'll be late!" Aliesie yelled.

"I just got in the shower!" he yelled back.

"Well hurry up, I want to get good seats!"

"First of all, it's the rehearsal dinner; the seats are assigned. Second, I wouldn't have to hurry if you hadn't taken so long in the shower!"

Aliesie let out a soft chuckle before going back to getting ready. She was already dressed in a black halter dress with large purple flowers all over it so she started to put on make-up. She had never really been big on wearing it since she usually had no one to impress at all. But when Selphie decided to play dress up with her and did her makeup she saw it in a new light. She decided to let her hair flow in its natural free curly state down her back, and she still hadn't put her shoes on. She always waited until right before leaving somewhere to bring them on.

She was just about ready when there was a knock on the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by two large threatening looking men in black suits. She took a deep breath as she tried to choke back the sudden wave of fear that washed over her.

"Aliesie Crowley?" one of them asked.

She wasn't entirely sure how she should respond. If she said yes, would they attack her? Or if she said no would they know she was lying? Either option didn't seem like it could end well. Of course, she could always see what they wanted first before confirming her identity. She would have to word it just right so she wouldn't rouse any suspicion from them.

"Why…?" she asked, mentally kicking herself.

They both chuckled in response which did nothing to ease the fear that made her heart race. Her mind suddenly flashed to the things Zell had taught her for fighting off an attacker. They were simple things, knee to the groin, heel of the palm directly upward into the nose, go for the eyes…scream. She had practiced all of them before, but she was frozen.

"Are you happy now? I'm done and almost ready too!" Zell laughed, emerging from the bathroom.

"Who are you?" he asked defensively taking notice of the standoff.

"None of your damn business." One of them said. He raised a gun and aimed at Zell and fired a shot before anyone could make a move.

"NO!" Aliesie shrieked when Zell collapsed to the floor with a dull thud.

She lunged for him but was stopped by strong hands gripping her wrists and then she was forced down onto the floor. She struggled against her captors, but it was useless she felt handcuffs secured around her wrists, but she still tried to fight back.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" she screamed as loud as she could, hoping someone in the hall would hear her.

"Shut her up." One of them said, then she felt a hard blast to the back of her head and everything went dark.

* * *

Squall woke then next day to the sound of someone calling him to the bridge. On an average day, it wouldn't have bothered him, but he hadn't slept well. He wanted to say it was because he wasn't used to his soft bed anymore, but that was a lie. He was worried about Laguna. It wasn't like him not to answer a call, especially when that call came from his son.

 _"Sorry about your father…"_ it kept repeating in his head. And every time it did Squall just felt more and more confused.

 _"Attention: Balamb Garden has reached Dollet. We will remain here until further notice. If you decide to disembark and go into town, you are under a one-hour recall. Meaning: if you are not back within one hour of the withdraw order, you will be left behind! Stay safe and make sure someone knows where you are at all times. That is all."_

 _"Guess it's time to go get them…"_ Squall heaved his tired body out of bed with a pained grunt and dressed as quickly as he could.

He slowly made his way to the bridge to meet everyone who, according to Seifer, had been up for hours already. Everyone had been looking to Squall for orders. Everyone except for Alana. Instead, she was watching Rinoa, and that automatically put Squall on the defensive. Thankfully Seifer was standing unusually close to Alana which told Squall he had her covered.

"Has anyone called Zell to tell him we're here?" Squall asked.

"Yes." Irvine, Quistis, Selphie and Rinoa all answered in unison.

It didn't sit well with Squall. First Laguna and now Zell? What made it even worse was that Zell had been with one of Domino's targets. She could have gotten to Aliesie. There was only one way to find that out. The question was, who would go? If he took Rinoa with him, he would have the magical support, but she would be exposed to Domino if she were there. Seifer was busy keeping an eye on Alana, Quistis and Selphie were handling the flight of the Garden, Irvine was, well, being Irvine and was more interest in getting back together with Selphie. He wasn't even paying attention to what was said. Then there were Raijin and Fujin. They had their good qualities, but also some very annoying ones.

"I'll go get Zell," Squall sighed. "Be ready to leave when I get back."

* * *

It was cold, dark and damp. Add to that she had a splitting headache. The last thing she remembered was seeing Zell falling to the floor then; it was this. Wherever this was.

She got up off the cold hard floor to search for Zell, but she did it too quickly and just fell back down. She was dizzy and nauseous. She reached for the back of her head to rub the ache but found only a painful bump the size of a Chocobo egg. Just the slightest touch made her want to vomit what little was in her stomach.

 _"Where am I…?"_ she thought trying to focus on anything in the room.

 _"Oh… Good…you're awake!"_ another voice echoes in her head.

 _"Who…? Who said that?!"_ she thought to try to find some form of human shape.

 _"Oh come now baby doll… you haven't forgotten me already too, have you?"_ the voice said with exaggerated disappointment.

"D-Domino?!" she breathed.

A sudden rush of panic washed over her. A new type of nausea rose up in her gut as she started to shake with the sudden realization of her situation.

 _"Ding, ding, ding!"_

 _"Where am I?! what happened to Zell?!"_ Aliesie felt hot tears start to well up.

 _"find out for yourself."_

Aliesie heard a loud clanging noise and a narrow beam of light shot over to her. It was just enough light to see she was in a dungeon cell. It was full of cobwebs, endless amounts of dirt and water dripping down the walls. She was curled up on what must have passed for bed. It was simply a concrete slab that raised up a few inches from the floor.

She slowly lowered her feet to the cold stone floor but instead of the stone she rested her one foot on something furry that squealed and scurried away. Almost the exact reaction Aliesie had, though she would have had a hard time rushing.

 _"Oh it's just a rat, grow a backbone."_ Domino taunted.

Aliesie tried her best just to ignore her as she exited the room she was in only to find a hallway just like it. The only difference about it was that it had light.

 _"Turn left and went up the stairs at the end of the hall."_

Aliesie did as she was told but she moved very carefully so she wouldn't step on anything. She remembered all the times Zell had scolded her for not wearing shoes as she tiptoed around all the disgusting things on the floor, mostly consisting of rat droppings and giant bugs. Funnily enough, she had intended to wear shoes this time too, if she hadn't been kidnapped before she could put them on.

When she got to the stairs, she slowly made her way up into the brighter light. This hallway was completely different; it looked more like a hospital with nothing but white walls and floors.

"Is this a prison?!"

 _"Technically you were in a dungeon. They used to use it all the time; now it just sits there collecting dust."_ Domino sounded disappointed by that.

 _"Keep going; you'll understand where you are soon!"_

Domino's evil cackle filled Aliesie with a new sense of dread. She didn't want to find out what was at the end; she wanted to find a way out. She didn't know how she would do that, though. If Zell had been here he would know what to do; he had training for this sort of thing. Not to mention he'd broke out of a prison before.

 _"Hurry up or you'll miss all the fun!"_ Domino sang.

Aliesie hadn't realized how slow she had been moving. She only made it past two doors, and she still had a long way to go. She couldn't seem to make herself move any faster.

 _"I've had enough of your dawdling."_ She protested.

A loud bang came from behind followed by footsteps. She turned to see two Estharian guards marching in her direction. Something was off, though. They acted almost exactly like the guards in Centra, the night the palace was burned down. They acted like robots.

"Am I? in Esthar?"

Domino was silent as the guards got closer to her both of them reached an arm out, grabbed her, then proceeded to pull her down the hall. She struggled to get free, but their grip was too tight.

"Let me go!" she protested trying to shake herself free.

They ignored her completely. They pulled her up another flight of stairs and through a large double door. This hall had windows along the side of the building in place of a wall. She was finally able to see where in Esthar she was.

"the palace?!"

 _"Surpriiiiiise!"_ Domino sang again.

The guards kept pulling her through the familiar halls; it didn't take her long to figure out where they were headed. Then they pushed open another set of doors and threw her on the floor.

"Welcome! I'm so happy to meet you in person finally!" Domino clapped excitedly.

Aliesie stumbled to her feet and turned to face Domino.

"I must say baby doll; you are much prettier than I expected,"

Domino looked nothing like Aliesie had expected. Of course, she didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't a beautiful woman in a red dress with white hair and haunting icy blue eyes. Every sorceress Aliesie had ever seen pictures of had always dressed rather eccentric. By comparison, Domino was somewhat average. The white hair was a little shocking of course, but that could happen to anyone who merely bleached their hair too much. Aliesie also hadn't expected her to look so young either. She figured a power-hungry Sorceress would look much older than twenty-five, though.

Aliesie instinctively wanted to ask why she was brought to Esthar, but she already knew. Domino would take her power, and there wasn't anything Aliesie could do to stop her. There was only one thing Aliesie wanted to know.

"Where is Zell?" Aliesie asked breathlessly.

"Ugh," Domino rolled her eyes as she hopped off the desk. "Honestly, I thought you'd be much more concerned about the state of daddy. I mean, considering where you are right now."

That hadn't even crossed Aliesie's mind. She looked around the room she was in; Aliesie knew that room; she'd spent a significant portion of her childhood here while Laguna worked. Then she saw him.

It was the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen. Her father, Laguna, was tied to his desk chair with razor wire, his face was bruised and bloody and is mouth gagged. It was hard to tell if he was unconscious or is eyes were swollen shut. For all Aliesie knew he could have been dead.

Aliesie let out a choked scream that made Laguna's eyes shoot open. He was alive, but for how long?

"What have you done to him?!" Aliesie croaked.

"Oh, this is just a little insurance policy I decided to take out. He was down in the dungeon with you for a while but, he needed some air." Domino laughed as she wrapped her arms around Laguna's shoulders. "If you cooperate, he lives."

"If you don't," Domino produced a dagger out of thin air and pressed it to Laguna's throat, "he dies."

Laguna tried his best to yell "run" through the gag, but it came out as a muffled groan. He thrashed around in his chair, and the razor wire cut deeper into his skin.

"Grab her arms," Domino ordered, returning to the front of the desk.

She looked to either side to see Kiros and Ward, dead-eyed and stared straight ahead. The door behind her was still open; she had to take the chance. She ran as fast as she could down the hall.

"Are you trying to make this fun for me?" Domino laughed, "aren't you just a sweetheart!"

Aliesie was trying to remember the layout of the palace. It had been so long since she'd be there she had a hard time navigating. What she thought was an exit lead to another hall, or sometimes it would result in a bedroom. Nothing was where it should be.

 _"Did you think I would let you escape?"_

Aliesie grabbed the sides of her trying to block her out. She tried her best to calm herself and focus on how to get out.

She inhaled deep staggered breaths as she took in her surroundings. She was in the same hall that connected to Laguna's office but every door she opened lead to a different room that belonged elsewhere. The only logical choice she could make was to keep following the hallway. So she did. Until she came to a fork, she quickly turned right without looking. Then, ran headfirst into someone and immediately started to panic.

"Aliesie?"

She knew that voice.

"Damian!" she breathed a sigh of relief, and she threw her arms around his waist.

"What's going on? Why are you running?" he grabbed her shoulders to try and calm her down.

"I… She… kill me!" She tried to explain breathlessly.

"What are you talking about?"

"We have to get out of here… she'll kill me!" Aliesie tried to pull him down the hall with her, but he was unmoving.

"Someone is trying to kill you?" he only sounded slightly concerned by that, but Aliesie was too scared to question it.

"Yes, we have to get out of here!"

"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," he said trying to calm her down.

"No! No, it's not!" she yelled. "You have to believe me!"

"Calm down, let's just go talk to Laguna and get this whole mess sorted out."

"We have to go!" she yelled at him and tried to pull him down the hall again.

"It'll be alright."

She wasn't any match for his strength; he pulled her down the hall back to Laguna's office. He pulled her easily through the open doors. Domino was still just standing there with a wicked smile plastered across her face.

"Sorry, I'm late," Damian said, taking hold of Aliesie's arms and holding her still in front of him.

Aliesie couldn't believe what was happening. Her brother was helping the witch trying to kill her. Domino still had the knife in her hand as she closed in on Aliesie then she brushed the cold steel blade across Aliesie's cheek.

"Now, be a good girl and don't fight. If you do that, I might let you live!" Domino laughed.

Her entire body went numb; every sound muffled, she was dizzy and couldn't tell which way was up. Then the pain set in. Searing hot pain in the center of her abdomen. She felt herself falling and then she saw a bright flash of blue leave her body. The blue lighted hovered in a ball for a moment before entering Domino, causing her to gasp briefly.

The sound still muffled, but slowly the volume was turned up. She could hear Domino's laughter and Laguna thrashing in his chair screaming as loudly as he could only despite the gag.

"Quiet!" Domino yelled at him.

Aliesie's body started to tremble as the pain spread through her entire torso. She was losing a lot of blood, and She couldn't even scream out in pain for fear it would hurt even more, or the blood would escape at a faster rate.

"Now, what to do with you?" Domino asked herself as she looked down at Aliesie. "You did cooperate like a good girl, but you did run, and you made me work harder than any of the others did… though of course, I could blame mommy for some of that… She has been fun to play with these past few years."

Aliesie looked up at her confused.

"Oh daddy didn't tell you?" she laughed, "Mommy never died. In fact, she's at Balamb Garden with your big brother Squall as we speak!"

She knelt down closer to Aliesie.

"You know what? I'm feeling merciful today,"

Domino placed her hand on Aliesie's cheek, and a surge passed through her body slowly, it felt like warm honey was covering her body. She felt the stab wound start to close, and the bleeding stop but Domino pulled her hand away before it completely healed.

"Just because I now have your power, doesn't mean I don't think you'd still try something."

She rose to her feet and walked back over to Laguna and sat on his lap.

"Take her back to her cell." She ordered.

Kiros and Ward said nothing but grabbed her arms and pulled her out the door.


	11. Ultimatum

It was colder this time. How that was possible, she had no idea. Maybe it was the blood loss; she must have lost at least a quart of blood if not more. Or perhaps it was that she was no longer a sorceress. Her powers likely had some of the effects on her body temperature. One thing was for sure; she had never felt so empty.

Even before meeting Zell, she could feel his existence; it was like a string that would tug at her heart. The closer he got to her, the stronger the string got until it grew into a rope that wrapped itself tightly around her and bound them together. Now that line got cut into tiny pieces that would never be whole again, she was completely alone, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

They threw her onto the floor of that dingy cell and just left her there to die. Her wound, still not healed. One wrong move could rip it back open, and she could bleed out and die. At least the rats would be well fed for a while. As grim as that thought was, she took a small amount of comfort in knowing that she would be able to provide sustenance for another living being.

Kiros and Ward were under Domino's control. Her father tortured, and her brother a willing participant in all of it. Not only that, her mother was somehow still alive, and no one told her.

She wondered if Zell knew. Would he have told her? What reason would he have to keep it from her? Why did everyone else know? It wasn't fair. Did they not trust her? Would they try to find her or would they just assume she was dead? None of that mattered anymore; Zell was likely dead, and no one was coming to her rescue.

She was so tired; she didn't even care that she was laying in dirt from who knows how long ago. She was cold, but she couldn't keep her eyes open.

* * *

 _The sun and sand were blistering, the wind was calm as it blew over the cool water of the ocean and the surf was almost perfect. The waves weren't exactly big enough to surf which was slightly disappointing to Zell, but they were small enough to teach Aliesie how to swim._

 _"_ _I'd feel much better about learning in a place with less of a current," she protested as Zell pulled her into the waves, "like a swimming pool, or you know, not at all,"_

 _"_ _You'll be fine," He replied._

 _"_ _But what if I get pulled out by the current?" she panicked._

 _"_ _You're wearing a life vest, and the waves aren't big enough for a strong riptide," he kept pulling her._

 _"_ _What about jellyfish?" she asked, resisting his pull, "I could get stung!"_

 _"_ _Jellyfish aren't usually around this time of year," he laughed._

 _"_ _But…" she pouted._

 _"_ _Aliesie, I promise, you'll be okay," he stopped pulling for a second and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, "I love you, I wouldn't let anything bad happen."_

 _"_ _You love me?" she murmured._

 _He hadn't meant to say that, not that he didn't feel it, he loved her, but it just slipped out._

 _"_ _Ugh…well… yeah, I do…" he felt his face turning bright red._

 _"_ _Zell…"_

 _She started to say something, but before she could, Zell felt a splash of cold water hit his face, causing him to jump._

He wiped the water off his face, but when he finished he wasn't on the beach, he was on the floor of his hotel room. How he ended up there was anyone's guess.

He blinked a few times to try and shake off the groggy feeling, but his eyelids were too heavy, and he just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Zell," he heard a man's voice as he started to drift back to sleep.

"Dad?" he mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Zell, wake up," the voice said again, this time with a sharp slap to his cheek.

Zell jumped again, and his eyes shot open to see Squall hovering over him.

"You're not my real dad…" he complained.

"No, I'm not, and I'm not your mom either," Squall asked.

"What are you talking about?" Zell asked groggily.

"Never mind," Squall sighed, "get up," he ordered.

"Where's Aliesie?" Zell asked as he sat up, his tired eyes searching the room.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Squall said crossing his arms.

"W-what?!"

Zell stumbled quickly to his feet and attempted to search the room. Squall had already done that, but Zell needed to check for himself. He explored every inch growing more panicked as he did so.

"Shit, shit, shit…" he mumbled to himself, "SHIT!" he was starting to freak out.

He racked his brain for the events of the prior night.

"The men in the suits, it had to be them!" Zell said anxiously.

"What men in suits?"

"Last night, these two guys showed up at the door, I think they shot me," Zell quickly explained.

"They must have," Squall said, "I found this in your neck," he explained holding up a tiny dart.

"Motherfuckers…" Zell mumbled, his rage starting to come to a full boil.

"Get all your things together and get checked out, we're leaving," Squall ordered.

* * *

Aliesie awoke to the metallic grinding of the locking mechanism on her cell door straining to open. A blinding light burst into the room, chasing the rats away briefly. She struggled to pick her head up when a shadow was cast in from the doorway.

"I brought you some food," a male voice said.

She knew who it was, and it was the one person she did not want to see ever again, Damian. She slowly sat up casting a glare in his direction.

"There isn't poison in it," he continued, seemingly reading her mind as he sat the plate down.

It wasn't a farfetched idea that he could be hearing her thoughts, Domino could do it, she could have given Damian that ability as well.

"You should eat, you lost a lot of blood," he said, crouching in front of her.

"You don't say?" Aliesie snapped, "and who's fault is that?"

"You're right I suppose," he said after letting out a soft chuckle, "but I'm also the reason you're alive."

 _"_ _Humph"_ was all Aliesie could muster in reply.

"You don't believe me?" he asked.

"Why should I?" she replied.

"I suppose that's fair," he answered, "you should know, however, that I am also the reason mother is alive."

"Mother is dead," Aliesie whispered.

"No, she is very much alive. In fact, I just saw her at my estate last night with your brother," his matter of fact tone was one that Aliesie didn't appreciate one bit.

"Y- you're lying," tears threatened to spill out of her eyes as she shook her head in disbelief.

"That's your choice," he sighed, standing back up.

"Why are you helping her?" Aliesie asked, her voice cracking a little.

 _"_ _hm?"_

"Domino, why are you helping her?"

"how could I not? She's going to make this world a much better place," he said over his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, "the only thing I see wrong with this world is… _her_ ," she hissed.

"You don't know anything about this world!" he snapped, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall.

"Who's fault is that?" she croaked under his grip.

"I never once stopped you from leaving," he hissed, "you were the one who came back," he released her, and she slid back down to the floor.

"I had nowhere else to go," she cried. "I didn't know how to get anywhere, and I didn't know anyone, what was I supposed to do? You were all I had," she added, tears streaming down her face.

"That was never my problem," he said making his exit, leaving the door open behind him, "and it still isn't." he called back.

Was he letting her go? It wasn't like Domino needed her anymore, she already had Aliesie's powers. Slowly she got up off of the floor, being careful not to reopen the wound.

She cautiously made her way to the door, hoping she wouldn't encounter any hostility on the outside and breathed a sigh of relief when she met an empty hallway instead.

She looked around double checking which direction to go. If she went the direction, Domino told her to follow earlier she would likely encounter guards being controlled and thrown back into her cell, or worse. At the same time, she could help Laguna escape. Except that she wouldn't be able to do a thing to help him, she had no power and no knowledge of combat outside of the basic self-defense Zell taught her that she barely remembered.

Laguna would have wanted her to escape and get help. Better help than she could offer alone. No choice but to go the direction she hadn't taken before, that path led to yet another staircase, but this one went down. She wasn't sure where it went, but it had to be better than where she was.

She took a deep calming breath to steady the nerves causing her to shake and started down the stairs.

* * *

"You're sure you don't have any idea where she could be?" Irvine asked, leaning against a bookshelf in Squall's office.

"I'm sure," Zell replied in an exasperated tone.

"Have you even tried reaching out to her?" Seifer asked, matching Zell's exasperation with irritation.

"I don't know Seifer, have you tried working the shaft?" Zell replied.

"I'm sure you'd like that wouldn't you?" Seifer smiled mockingly.

"What I'd like is for you to stop asking me stupid questions and to shave that stupid beard off your face!" Zell snapped, crossing his arms.

"Why? Does it give you feel the urge to kiss me?" Seifer laughed.

"There are a lot of urges you make me feel Almasy, one of them is the urge to stab you in the face with a plunger!"

" _Ooooh_ , I'm shaking," Seifer mocked.

"That's enough you two!" Squall snapped, eyes closed and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

The two men listened reluctantly; Zell maintained a dirty look at Seifer while Seifer smiled antagonistically.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to only bring these three in his office after returning, simply to be able to control the conversation seeing as the number of people involved got much larger. The conversation between four people was hard enough; ten would have been nearly impossible. Everyone wanted to talk all at once as soon as they walked off of the elevator without Aliesie.

Surprisingly enough, Alana was the only one not present when they returned. According to Seifer, she wanted to look around the garden, so he let her. Squall didn't care for the reason all he wanted was for Rinoa to be kept safe and that didn't seem likely with Alana nearby.

"Oh good, your back," he heard Alana's soft voice from the doorway, "I'm sure you noticed Aliesie's been taken," she laughed.

"the fuck is wrong with you?" Seifer asked, disgusted, "your kid gets kidnapped, and you laugh?"

"how do you know about that?" Squall requested in a calmer tone.

"It would be obvious to anyone, really," she laughed again, "you went to get her and her knight. Now you have her knight but not her."

She was giving Squall an uneasy feeling as she absentmindedly played with his globe. It wasn't a threatening gesture by any means, but it was the way she smiled and laughed at the situation that was unnerving. Most parents that found out their child was missing would be reacting much differently; they would be worried, crying and trying to figure out where they were as fast as possible.

"She is alive," she said seeming slightly disappointed.

Shocked looks were all she got from her audience which she found amusing judging by the way she laughed.

"how do you know that?" Zell asked taking a step towards her.

"Because I'm the one who had her taken," she said with a chuckle.

"What?!" Zell rushed up to her only to be thrown back against the wall with enough force to crack the wood paneling.

It was quite obviously magic, but as far as Squall knew, Alana had lost that ability.

The sound of Zell hitting the wall had apparently been loud enough to draw the others in, they all had gasped at the sight of Zell on the floor struggling to stand even with Irvine's help and the hole in the wall.

"Oh good, everyone's here!" Alana said, cheerfully clapping, "that means I only have to say this once,"

"If you hadn't guessed it already, I'm not Alana. While this is her body, her mind is busy reliving some old memories."

"Who the hell are you then?" Zell croaked.

"I'm so glad you asked, I am Domino," she answered bowing dramatically.

Dead stares were all she got from anyone. No gasps, no cries of distress, just blank looks mixed with a few shocked ones. Seifer was one of the people giving a blank stare; he was merely glad to know it wasn't Alana that was acting strangely.

"I was hoping for more of a reaction," she pouted.

"You won't get one," Squall said sternly, "why did you take over Alana's body?"

"It was the easiest way to get to all of you at once," She explained, "you see; I have a deal to offer you."

"What kind of deal?" Squall asked, and a wicked smile spread across Domino/Alana's face.

"It shouldn't matter what the deal is Squall; we won't agree!" Zell bellowed.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what I was offering!" she laughed.

"And that is?" Irvine asked, covering Zell's mouth before he had a chance to protest.

She snapped her fingers, and the room changed. They were in an office still but it wasn't Squall's, it was Laguna's.

"Take a good look commander," she said.

He looked around briefly but saw only one thing different; Laguna was strapped to his desk chair with razor wire and gagged, his face, covered in blood and bruises. His eyes were swollen shut making it hard to tell if he was even awake.

Squall froze at the sight; he couldn't look away or even move. He didn't care much for Laguna, or at least he thought he didn't, but seeing his father like that it filled him with what he could only equate to a blind rage. No one deserved that kind of treatment.

Squall felt his hands start to shake and bile start to build into his throat, he was speechless, mostly for fear that if he opened his mouth, it would escape, or that he wouldn't be able to control his words through the rage. He didn't want that; he didn't want to show this devil woman any weaknesses.

Not surprisingly, Selphie was the first to react. She ran to try and help Laguna but ended up falling to the floor through him. He wasn't there, it was only an illusion, but that didn't comfort anyone in the slightest.

"Your wife's power, for your father's life," Domino said flatly, "it's a fair trade; which is more important to you?" she chuckled.

"What about Aliesie?" Zell asked, his voice shaking with the rage he was fighting to contain.

"She no longer serves a purpose, I have what I needed from her, do what you wish with her," her answer felt more like a brush off.

"Where is she?" Zell's rage was getting harder for him to control.

"hmm… Don't know," she answered, pretending to think, "I also don't care."

Her laugh was like nails on a chalkboard to Zell; he couldn't contain his rage any longer. Everything turned red and the next thing he knew, the woman was laying on the ground, unconscious and the room had turned back into Squall's office. All eyes were on him, except for Seifer, who was more concerned with the woman lying on the floor. Zell didn't know who she was, all he knew was Domino was speaking through her, and he needed to silence her.

"Alana?" Seifer said calmly.

He was too calm, everyone was. Everyone but Zell. No one was reacting the way they should; they were more worried about this woman than they seemed to be about Laguna or Aliesie.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?!" Irvine demanded.

"I don't know; I couldn't stop myself," he panicked, "I don't even know how hard I hit her!"

"she's alive," Seifer announced, "I'll take her down to the infirmary."

Seifer scooped her up effortlessly and carried her out of the room followed closely by Raijin and Fujin.

"Squall, I…" Zell started but stopped when Squall held up one of his hands.

He said nothing to Zell, or anyone for that matter, but sank into his desk chair burring his face in his hands. The hands that were now tightly tied by Domino. He didn't want to risk Laguna's life, but he couldn't afford to allow Domino to gain Rinoa's powers.

"Squall?" Rinoa whispered, placing her hands on his knees.

Squall moved his hands away from his eyes. His wife's concerned look was slightly frustrating, her life possibly at risk, yet she was more concerned about him. He quickly looked away from her expecting to get similar looks from everyone else, but they were gone leaving the two of them alone.

"I don't know what to do Rin…" he confessed quietly, "I can't let her get your powers and I can't let her kill Laguna…"

"I know," she whispered.

"I don't know what to do…" he sighed.

"We'll figure something out," Rinoa gave him a reassuring smile.

* * *

Zell didn't know what to do. He blamed himself for Aliesie's capture, and now Domino was one step closer to her goal. Not only that, but he punched that woman in the face. Granted, she was being possessed by Domino, she still might be, but it wasn't Domino that was taking any of the damage. Domino probably didn't even feel a thing.

He wandered the halls of Garden trying multiple times to make any mental connection with Aliesie and failed at every attempt. Of course, there was no reason to believe it would work in the first place; they never tried to make a connection like that before. The only difference between then and now was that he could _feel_ her. He couldn't feel her in his mind anymore, and that made him feel very uneasy.

Time after time he attempted to connect with her and all it did was give him a headache. He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going and when Zell finally looked he found himself outside the infirmary. He thought for a brief moment about going to apologize to Alana, but he wasn't sure if she was even conscious yet or if she was still under Domino's control.

As soon as he decided to have a seat on the bench nearby, he was joined by Seifer.

"Is she ok?" Zell asked as Seifer rested on the bench next to him.

"She'll live," he answered flatly, "the good thing is, you knocked Domino out of her head so, win, I guess," he shrugged.

A long awkward silence grew between them. The longer it went, the more uncomfortable it became. Zell wanted to talk about what was going to happen next and how they were going to go about rescuing Laguna and finding Aliesie. Seifer was the last person he wanted to talk to about that and the last person he'd want to talk to about anything for that matter.

"So is Alana your girlfriend or something?" Zell blurted.

The disgusted look Seifer gave in reply was enough of an answer for Zell.

"Who is she then?"

"Are you that dense?" Seifer accused.

"I didn't know I was supposed to automatically know who every person in the world," Zell replied sardonically.

"One would think you would know what your girlfriend's mom looks like," Seifer sighed.

"What?" Zell asked, "Aliesie's mother is dead."

"Nope," Seifer replied, "you punched her in the face."

"I have no reason to believe you," Zell scoffed.

"Fine." Seifer replied he gave in way too quickly, "Alana, are you Aliesie's mother?" his heavily sarcastic tone did not escape Zell's notice.

"Don't be an ass Seifer," she scolded making her way over to them.

She had an ice pack pressed against her face covering a very swollen cheek, and a bruise was already starting to form. Zell couldn't help but feel embarrassed; he let his temper get the better of him; it wasn't the first time, but when Aliesie was around, he had an easier time controlling himself.

"I'm sorry, about punching you…" The martial artist muttered.

"I appreciate that," she shrugged "I should at least thank you for getting Domino out of my head. Hopefully, this Odine bangle the doctor gave me will keep her out till we get rid of her."

"how do you propose we do that?" Seifer asked rising to his feet, "She's got a hostage."

"I know, "she sighed.

"She's also got Aliesie's power now, and most likely she still has Aliesie." Zell chimed.

She didn't have a reply. The only thing that would soothe Zell's nerves would be to know where Aliesie was and being able to get her.

 _"_ _Will the following please report to the bridge: Zell Dincht, Seifer Almasy and Alana Crowley,"_ Squall called over the loud speaker.

* * *

"I have a plan," Squall announced when everyone walked through the door.

Those words were music to Zell's ears; He was never happier to hear Squall say anything in his life.

"A modified pincer movement," Squall stated simply.

There were only two people in the room with no idea what that was, and they made it clear by giving Squall a baffled look.

"Squall," Alana started with a small smile, "while normally you are excellent at expressing yourself without having to say much, I must admit this would be the perfect time for you to elaborate."

Rinoa nodded in agreement. He said nothing to her before calling everyone else back; he just sat silently in his chair staring at the wall when he jumped up and ran to the bridge.

"It's simple, we lodge a head-on attack against Esthar, draw their fire towards the larger force while a small team sneaks around and gets into the palace from the back to rescue Laguna," He explained.

"That could work," Seifer agreed.

"The palace would still have guards on all sides, if you were to engage anywhere near the palace it would trigger surveillance cameras and alert Domino," Alana chimed.

"What about from below?" Rinoa offered.

"like the sewer?" Zell asked with a disgusted look.

"Yeah! If it's anything like the Presidential Palace in Deling there is access to the sewer either inside the lower levels of the palace or close enough to sneak in without being caught!" she explained excitedly.

Squall nodded in response, toying with the idea.

"But does anyone know if that's the case? I mean, there could be a concrete barrier that goes twenty feet around the palace to keep people from doing that," Seifer reasoned.

"There used to be." Alana mused.

"How do you know it isn't still there?" Seifer asked.

"Because Laguna had it removed. He said he didn't want to have anything between himself and the people; there wouldn't even be a guard in or around the palace, but they were part of the compromise. Laguna got to get rid of the walls and barriers, but Kiros and Ward made him keep the guards for his safety," Alana explained.

"So is there sewer access?" Zell asked still with a disgusted look.

"One would think," she shrugged.

"You don't know?" Seifer sighed.

"I wasn't involved in a lot of the palace renovations after Adel, even though I was an ally I could have still been considered an enemy at any time. It would have been idiotic for them to let me know all the secrets of the palace," she explained.

 _It's a shame Laguna didn't get his way; this would have been a lot easier if he did._ Squall thought.

Squall shuddered slightly; he'd never admit to anyone that he had that thought, but it was true. If Laguna had his way, it would have been much easier for them to rescue him.

"Do you at least know your way through the palace without being seen?" Squall asked the former queen.

"I know my way but not getting caught could be tricky, the guards don't follow a pattern of patrol, it varies all the time," she explained, "if the group isn't too large, it shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Alright then, you, Zell, Seifer, Raijin and Fujin will be the rescue team.," Squall ordered, "the rest of us will stay here and lead the attack on the city."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Does anyone have a plan on how to take her out?" Seifer asked, "She's pretty powerful, I kinda doubt that we'd be able to kill her even with an entire army."

"You do have a point, but that's something we may have to deal with after we get Laguna to safety," Squall replied.

* * *

Aliesie, now lost, it was just dark enough to be hard to see, and everything smelled terrible. It felt like days, every turn she took led to a dead end with new awful smells to take in from what seemed to be an endless cesspool.

 _Ughhh… I wish I had my shoes…_ she thought with a wave of nausea at the mere thought of what she could be stepping in. _I hope I don't get hookworms…_ that new thought made nausea overwhelming. She grabbed hold of the wall as she lurched forward, letting go of what little was in her stomach. Her wound, threatening to reopen with each contraction of her abdomen.

She forced herself to keep going, her body weakening and still heaving. She started falling and reached for something to hold herself up, she stumbled forward and managed to get a hold of something that felt metallic. She forced her eyes to focus, her head started to pound and found herself barely hanging onto a gate, a gate that was locked. What little strength she had was fading while she struggled to keep herself off the ground.

Her consciousness was flickering when a flash of light crossed her field of vision, then another, and another. She counted at least five light sources, all of them shooting in all directions and all of them moving closer to her. Then she heard voices, they were quiet, but at least they were human.

"H-hello?" she called weakly.

The voices got louder the lights moving rapidly and getting closer and closer by the second. When they were almost directly in front of Aliesie, a thought crossed her mind, they could be under Domino's control and coming to drag her back to her cell. The sudden urge to run crept over her, but she was out of energy and couldn't even pull herself into a standing position let alone outrun five potential attackers.

One of the lights settled on her face, blinding her, so she flinched away.

"Aliesie?!" a familiar voice called.

A warm hand reached through the bars of the gate and cradled her face. It was a nice change to rest her head on something that wasn't disgusting.

"Zell?" she mumbled.

"Put this on," he ordered.

He didn't give her a chance to respond before he placed something over her head and covering her face. She expected whatever it was to make it harder to breathe, but it was the exact opposite. As soon as it was in place, she felt a cold puff of air in her face, clean air. The fog in her head slowly started to lift, but she was still weak.

"What is this?" she asked, feeling the mask.

"It's a respirator," Zell explained, "this place is full of poisonous gasses, that thing cleans the air and keeps you from dying."

The fog lifted, even more, the longer she was able to breathe the fresh air when it hit her, Zell was alive. That alone was almost more of a comfort than the respirator he put on her and the fact that he somehow found her in the labyrinth she was navigating. Despite the fact that they no longer shared the sorceress/Knight connection.

"How long have you been down here?" a different male voice asked.

"I don't know," Aliesie answered.

"PALACE?" a female voice demanded.

"huh?"

"Does this way lead to the palace?" that female voice was much softer, and vaguely but she couldn't place a name to it.

"It doesn't matter!" Zell interrupted, "we have to get this gate open regardless!"

"How do you propose we do that?" Seifer demanded.

"I don't know; why don't you break the lock with your gunblade?" Zell suggested.

"Great idea! Let's use something that could cause an explosion, killing us all and letting Domino know we're down here!" Seifer said cynically. "do you know how methane works?"

"It was just a suggestion," Zell replied rolling his eyes.

"Why don't you just punch it as hard as you can?" Seifer asked crossing his arms.

"Why don't we just pick the lock, ya know?" Raijin offered.

"You can pick locks?" Zell asked.

"AFFIRMATIVE," Fujin answered.

"Go for it!" Zell said getting out of the way.

Seifer was fairly impressed Raijin possessed that kind of skill, and he was pretty good at it as well, he had the gate open in less than five minutes.

As soon as the gate was open, Zell immediately scooped Aliesie up and pulled her in for a tight embrace.

"We have to get her out of here," Zell ordered.

"No, we have to keep going," Seifer snapped back.

"We can't miss our window to save Laguna," Alana chimed.

"Well, we can't bring Aliesie along!" Zell yelled.

Zell and Seifer glared at one another, neither of them backing down.

"Raijin, Fujin you take Aliesie to the hospital to get checked out and then get her somewhere safe. The three of us will continue and get Laguna," Alana ordered, taking charge of the situation.

"Hey! You can't order them around!" Seifer grumbled, "only I can do that!"

"We don't have time to argue, we need to go, and Aliesie needs out of here," she reasoned. "It will be easier to get in with fewer people,"

Zell was reluctant but agreed. Fewer people meant less chance of being seen and a greater likelihood of success.

"Fine," Seifer agreed after a moment, "but I don't want to hear any complaints about not having enough people if we get into trouble!"

Alana nodded in agreement to his demand and gestured to Zell to pass Aliesie off.

"SAFE," Fujin assured.

"She'll be safe with us, ya know?" Raijin confirmed.

"I'm counting on it," Zell replied, stroking Aliesie's hair once more before they took off in opposite directions.

Aliesie being safe was a huge weight lifted off Zell's shoulders. Going forward was easier now that she was out of harm's way.

The three of them continued through the maze of the sewer till they came upon a flight of stairs.

"This must be it," Alana said, starting up, "everyone ready?"

Zell and Seifer both nodded in agreement then started up the stairs behind her.

They had just reached the top when and all too familiar harpoon crashed into the stone floor before them knocking everyone off balance.

"Resistance is futile."

The familiar and almost robotic sounding voice of Kiros echoed through the hall as he swooped in to strike at Alana, but Seifer blocked him. The metallic clang of steel on steel was a terrifying sound but the blast from Hyperion was almost deafening. Seifer managed to easily overpower Kiros enough to knock him to the ground and quickly strike at the defenseless Ward.

Kiros quickly got back on his feet and went to land a sneak attack on Seifer, but Zell struck faster. He didn't pull his punches, neither did Kiros but Zell was quicker and stronger than the war veteran. With one hard punch, Kiros was sent flying into the wall behind him hard enough to be knocked unconscious.

Ward fell almost as fast with one final blow from Seifer.

"I think they know we're here," He said, sheathing his gunblade.

* * *

I have revised this about twenty times.


	12. Always Starting Over

_Laguna walked into the great room of the presidential palace and was greeted by a funny sight. Ward, was sitting on the floor by the coffee table cross-legged, holding a tiny child sized tea cup with two fingers wearing a small black top hat and a purple feather boa._

 _His teacup was filled with imaginary tea by a two-year-old little girl dressed in a plastic tiara and pink plastic slippers, her curly black hair was pulled up into pigtails on the sides of her head, and her lavender dress had costume jewelry clipped all over it. Laguna suppressed a laugh after catching a glared from Ward that conveyed the message of: "tell anyone about this, and I will kill you."_

 _He had no doubt been bullied by this tiny tyrant into having tea with her, and with him not being able to speak and her not being able to read his facial expressions, it was probably not hard for her to do._

 _She turned to see what Ward had been looking at, and her bright blue eye lit up as she smiled and ran over to Laguna._

 _"_ _Daddy! Come have tee wif mee!" She squealed in delight, taking his hand and pulling him over to the table._

 _"_ _I'd love to baby doll, but I think I'm a little underdressed!" He said sweetly._

 _"_ _That's ok; I'll dress yoo up!" She said, excitedly pulling him down to sit on the floor next to Ward._

 _She then ran to dig in a giant toy box and brought him a bright pink feather boa, some costume jewelry, and a pair of big green sunglasses. She gleefully wrapped the boa around his neck and clipped the plastic jewel earrings onto his earlobes, and he put the large sunglasses on his face._

 _"_ _How do I look?" He asked, holding out his arms._

 _Ward let out a breathy chuckle._

 _"_ _Aliesie?" He asked the little girl._

 _"_ _You need dis," she answered, taking off her tiara and placing it on his head._

 _"_ _Oh wow! I get to be a princess?!" Laguna asked excitedly. She nodded in response as she_ _served him some imaginary tea, making all the pouring noises herself._

 _"_ _Sweet! What should my princess name be?" He asked her before taking an exaggerated sip._

 _She had thought for a second before a large cheeky grin appeared on her face._

 _"_ _Princess Sparkles," she laughed._

 _"_ _Perfect! Now, what about Uncle Ward?" He asked._

 _"_ _Ummm… Lady…" she thought carefully about what Ward's name should be. "Banana!" She continued._

 _"_ _Lady Banana, I think that's the perfect name!" Laguna praised, as he gave Ward a pat on the arm, Ward nodded in approval._

 _"_ _Oh my, what's going on here?" Kiros asked as he entered the great room._

 _"_ _Kiros! We are having a fancy tea party with the fair princess Aliesie!" Laguna answered in a posh accent._

 _"_ _I see…" Kiros nodded with an entertained expression on his face. "Laguna, Ward, I need to speak with the two of you."_

 _"_ _There is only Princess Sparkles and Lady Banana present, presently!" Laguna replied in the same posh accent._

 _"_ _Laguna…" Kiros pleaded._

 _"_ _Princess Sparkles!" Laguna demanded, crossing his arms over his chest, Ward was doing the same as well._

 _"_ _Very well, Princess…Sparkles, I need to speak with you," Kiros conceded._

 _"_ _We may speak after tea!" Laguna respond, hold his palm out to Kiros. "For now, we may_

 _discuss the happenings of Mr. Bear and Ms. Unicorn!" Laguna continued gesturing for Kiros to sit._

 _Aliesie looked up at Kiros, excited about having another member of the tea party. He couldn't resist her puppy dog eyes and sighed in defeat before joining them on the floor._

 _"_ _Yoo can be Lady pumpernickel!" She said with excitement as she wrapped a boa around his neck as well._

 _"_ _I can work with that," Kiros shrugged._

Pain surged through his body; he couldn't breathe and felt his heart might explode from the voltage.

Even after the shock stopped, it was still hard to breathe, and he couldn't move. Blood pooled on the floor beneath him, his blood. With every shock the pool got bigger, his muscles tensed causing the razor wire to cut deeper.

"Why?" Laguna murmured.

"Speak up," Domino scolded.

"Why?" Laguna repeated, "why are you doing this?"

Domino kept repeating the same pattern. She would regress him to one of his happy memories then snap him out of it with a jolt of electricity. Sometimes she would change it up with fire, water, ice or even club him but electricity was her favorite. Every time she would shock him she tightened the wire holding him to the chair.

"Why are you doing all of this?" Laguna asked again.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific my dear," Domino laughed.

"You," Laguna didn't have the strength to form his thoughts into speech.

He wanted to ask so many things, like why she felt the need to torture him, which was the only thing that kept repeating in his mind.

"If you're wondering why you're being punished, it's because I'm not allowed to kill you," she said solemnly. "Yet."

"What?" Laguna asked breathlessly.

"Does that surprise you?" She laughed.

"Yes," Laguna answered.

"I'm hurt," she pouted, " I'll have you know, not one person has died because of me."

"Not for lack of trying my dear," Damion said as he entered.

"You've got me there!" she said gleefully "In my defense, you only said not to kill anyone. You didn't say I couldn't have fun."

"Sadistic bitch," Laguna whispered.

"What was that? You want more pain?" she asked, leaning close to Laguna's face. "Well if that's what you want, far be it for me to say no!"

Another bolt of electricity surged through his body, and everything went black.

* * *

"I have a bad feeling about this," Seifer muttered as he peeked around the corner.

They hadn't run into any resistance since Kiros and Ward. The palace was empty and unsettling.

"What do you think is going on?" Alana whispered.

Even at low volumes, their voices carried through the corridor. They tried to keep noise to a minimum even though Domino knew they were there if she hadn't she wouldn't have sent Kiros and Ward to attack them.

"Either they're all out fighting Garden, or," Seifer started.

"Or?" Alana prodded.

"It's a trap," Zell finished.

"I don't think that's the case," Alana said. She and Seifer were both focused on the way forward even to cast a glance back at Zell who was bringing up the rear.

"What would make it a trap? There is no one around," Alana asked.

"The gun to my back is the first clue," Zell deadpanned.

Seifer and Alana both turned to see Zell with his hands in the air and an Esthar soldier indeed had a gun to his back.

"Shit," Seifer muttered when more soldiers emerged.

Surrounded and outnumbered they had no choice but to surrender. If it had been just Zell and Seifer, they would have fought their way through, but they had Alana to consider and wouldn't be able to fight all of them off and keep her safe.

Zell and Seifer exchanged dark looks as the guards disarmed them and put handcuffs on their wrists but said nothing.

* * *

Squall looked out from the Garden bridge and watched as Esthar grew closer and closer. Even though the battle was a distraction, it was no less nerve-wracking. He ran great risk of losing a lot of SeeDs and students, all for the sake of saving one person.

Part of him wondered if it was worth it. All of them were willing to do what they were ordered to, but they were risking their lives for what felt like Squall's selfish need to save his father.

"We're just outside the city," Nida said bringing the Garden to a stop.

Squall jumped at the sudden intrusion.

"When did you get here?" he asked.

"I've been here the entire time," Nida laughed. "Who do you think has been piloting Garden?"

"Sorry," Squall sighed.

"I'm used to it."

Squall let out a long sigh as they slipped back into his head.

He had no idea what his plan was to stop Domino. She was powerful, if they killed her, her power would just go to another woman who could end up doing the same thing.

Hyne forbid it be Rinoa that took her power. The world would want her head on a pike. Even though Squall promised to protect her if she became the world's enemy, he didn't want to have to fight off the entire world.

They could always seal her away, but she wasn't likely to fall for any attempt to draw her to the sorceress memorial.

 _"_ _Do you think I'm an idiot commander?_ "

"What?" Squall asked looking around.

"What?" Nida parroted.

"Who said that?" He asked.

"No one said anything," Nida answered.

 _"_ _Only you can hear me."_

"Why?" He asked the voice.

 _"_ _Because I said so, that's why."_

"What do you want?" Squall asked.

"Squall, who are you talking to?" Nida asked.

 _"_ _Shh!"_ Squall hushed him.

 _"Why don't we get rid of the distractions?"_

In the blink of an eye, Squall was in Laguna's office once again. This time it was empty except Squall, and a woman who Squall could only assume was Domino seated behind the desk.

"Tell me, Commander, do you remember the deal I offered you?" She asked.

Squall said nothing.

"Let me refresh your memory then," she said standing up. "You let me have your wife's power, your father lives."

Squall remained silent. Domino didn't seem pleased, and Squall didn't want to risk making the situation worse.

"I feel I was very clear on my terms. Was I not?" Domino asked.

"You were," Squall sighed after a long silence.

"Then I'll ask you again. Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"No," he sighed, "I believe that you're a psychopath."

"Don't try to flatter me, Commander," she flirted.

"Just get to the point you're trying to make," Squall demanded.

"Wow, you aren't much for foreplay are you?" she laughed, "I feel sorry for your wife."

"Don't you dare say one word about my wife," he snapped.

"Don't be so dramatic," she said rolling her eyes.

"Make your point," he demanded again.

"I've laid out the dots, it's not my fault you aren't connecting them," she shrugged.

"Enough with your games," he yelled.

"You're no fun," she pouted.

Squall glared at her; she was frustrating beyond belief, toying with him the way she was. He didn't want to admit to her that he knew the point she was trying to make. She must have known about the rescue attempt.

He knew that was a risk when he came up with the idea, but he figured it would work out in the end. He was wrong.

"You knew the terms, and you've made it obvious what your choice is," she said quickly.

"What?" Squall started to panic at her tone and tried hard to hide it.

"You can't have your cake and eat it too," she said casually. "What happens next is on you."

In a bright flash of light, Squall was back in Garden laying face down on the floor. He shook his head slightly disoriented.

"Are you ok, Squall?" Nida asked, panicked.

"I'm all right," he grumbled.

"What happened? You were talking, and then you just collapsed," he explained.

"That's the least of our problems right now," Squall growled.

"What do you mean?" Nida asked.

"Get ready to storm the palace," Squall ordered. "Make the announcement."

* * *

She was more intimidating than Zell expected her to be. The power she possessed just rolled off of her, churning his stomach. A small part of him could feel Aliesie's power, but it didn't have the same pull on him as it did before.

All three of them exchanged concerned glances; given the state of Laguna, there was no telling what she would do to them. The soldiers forced all of them into metal chairs and strapped their hands and feet to the legs.

"What do we have here?" She smiled. "Some new playmates?"

"Sadistic bitch," Seifer mumbled.

"You can't tell me a man like you doesn't like it rough," she said pinching his cheek.

"You're not my type," he said shaking her hand off.

"Right," Domino laughed, "you prefer older women, right?" she continued, glancing at Alana.

Seifer scoffed; "You don't know anything about me."

"I've been inside her head," she whispered in his ear. "But, that has nothing to do with why you're here, does it? I do, however, know why you are her and I'd like you to know that your efforts are fruitless."

"What are you talking about?" Alana asked, her voice shaking.

"Allow me to show you," Domino smiled.

She held her hand out and produced a dagger from thin air. A wicked smile stretched across her face as she moved closer to Laguna. She slid her hands down his chest seductively and with her free hand slapped him across the face to wake him up.

He jolted, gasping in pain till she put the dagger to his chin.

"Were you enjoying your fantasy?" she whispered.

She slid the dagger slowly across his face. His breathing became shallow and quick as he began to panic. His eyes darted around the room looking for help when he spotted them. They were tied, but he still pleaded silently for their help. Alana looked at him with a mixture of panic and pity, Seifer and Zell looked on with nothing but anger. There wasn't anything they could do to stop it.

Domino raised the dagger over her head and brought it down full force toward his heart, before it made contact an explosion jolted the building, knocking the blade from her hand.

* * *

One explosion, followed by another and another till the room filled with dirt and smoke. Laguna heard muffled voices yelling, gunshots and more explosions. He wanted to hide, fight, scream for help and do something but he couldn't. Laguna couldn't even hold his head up. Then he felt hands on him, and the wire holding him down cut away.

He felt weightless. Then pain as his body jostled, someone was carrying him. He had no idea where but he couldn't muster the strength to worry about it. He felt himself fading faster and faster into unconsciousness.

"Laguna!"

That voice. He knew that voice.

"Laguna!"

There it was again. It echoed Laguna couldn't tell which direction it was coming from, he struggled to find it, but he couldn't move.

"Laguna, wake up!"

His eyes fluttered open, and he was blinded. The light hurt his eyes; his body was into much pain to move.

"Laguna?"

Alana appeared in his field of vision briefly before he faded back into darkness. He could still hear her voice it was muffled and mixed with a high-pitched ringing sound. She seemed scared like she was crying.

He was falling, falling far away from everyone. Voices faded into silence; light became darkness breathing became harder like he was drowning. He remembered this feeling. It was the same as when he fell off the cliff. He couldn't move in the water with his leg broken. That must be what was happening to him now. He was still in the water.

* * *

"What do we do now?" Zell asked.

"I don't know," Squall answered.

It was a miracle that Squall managed to storm the palace and save Laguna and the others in time, but the small victory felt empty. The reason being that Laguna was in critical condition and Domino was still alive. More than likely she was not happy.

They managed to get far enough away from Esthar that they could breathe a small sigh of relief, but Squall had a feeling it would be short lived. Domino would likely strike back hard and fast leaving little time for retaliation. Their best bet was to get as far away as they could and at least get Laguna to a hospital before it happened.

"Do you know where we're going?" Seifer asked.

"Galbadia," Squall answered.

"You sure Galbadia is safe?" Seifer asked with a chuckle.

"Safer than Esthar," Squall reasoned.

"What are we gonna do about Domino?" Rinoa asked.

Squall couldn't answer that question. There wasn't much he could do about Domino, she could get in people's heads, and Rinoa was her number one target. All he could do was keep her safe, far away from Domino.

There was only one way that would be possible.

"Zell, go get Quistis," Squall ordered, "tell her I need to speak with her right away."

"About what?" Zell asked.

"Just do it," he pleaded.

Zell shrugged and did as he was told.

"Seifer, can you give us a minute?" Squall asked when Zell left.

Seifer raised an eyebrow curiously then nodded before following after Zell.

Squall stayed silent staring off into the distance, deep in thought as he usually was Rinoa was worried, though. He wasn't as confident as he usually was, he seemed shaken and honestly a little scared.

"Squall?" she asked quietly.

He snapped out of his gaze at the sound of her voice and gave her his full attention. He made an unusual noise urging her to say what was on her mind.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"No," he chuckled darkly.

"What's wrong?"

"Rin," he started, "we can't stay here."

"What are you talking about?" she chuckled nervously.

"You're not safe here," Squall explained, grabbing her shoulders.

"We're in a flying fortress surrounded by trained and experienced mercenaries that will follow your every command without question," Rinoa scoffed. "I'm fairly sure we're in the safest place on the planet."

"Garden makes us a giant target. If we stay we're putting everyone here at risk are you willing to sacrifice them just to keep Domino from getting your powers?"

"No, but… Garden is our home. All our friends are here," Rinoa cried.

"They can take care of themselves," Squall scoffed. "I know you don't want to, but I need you to trust me on this. As soon as we get to Galbadia, you and I are leaving Garden."

"For how long?" Rinoa asked with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"I don't know," Squall answered.

He was aware that they could be gone for years, possibly the rest of their lives. All he knew was they couldn't stay, as much as Rinoa objected she had no choice but to agree.

* * *

It was hard seeing Laguna in such bad shape. All the years Alana had known him she never imagined this kind of thing happening to him even though he was always cavalier with his personal security. Alana felt helpless. There wasn't anything she could do to fix what happened and that hurt more than anything. If she hadn't been so stubborn in the past and asked him for help none of this would have happened.

Domino did a lot of damage to him. Broken bones in his arms, legs hands and feet; a few cracked ribs, shattered eye socket and extensive nerve damage. According to Dr. Kadowaki, he would need corrective surgery to repair the damage but would likely never return to full mobility.

"How is he?" Seifer asked, making Alana jump.

She hadn't left his side since they returned to Garden and Seifer would pop in at least once an hour to check on her.

"still no change," she sighed leaning back in her chair.

"You should probably get some sleep," he said sitting in a chair next to her.

"I'm not tired," she yawned grabbing Seifer's cup of coffee and taking a swig.

"I can get you your own if you want," Seifer chuckled.

"This one is fine," she replied taking another drink.

A long silence passed between them. The only sound in the room was Laguna's slow breathing and the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Seifer felt the need to say something, but he couldn't quite find the words that would alleviate the awkward situation in which he found himself.

"We need to find a way to stop her," Alana whispered.

"How do you propose we do that?" Seifer asked.

"I wish I knew," she chuckled darkly. "I'm up for anything honestly. My last plan didn't quite turn out so well as you can see."

"He's alive, and so is Aliesie," Seifer stated, "I'd call it a win."

"I wouldn't, Domino is still alive," she sighed.

"Sometimes you have to lose the battle before you can win the war," Seifer replied.

"Are you trying to cheer me up?" Alana asked raising an eyebrow.

" _Pfft_ ," he shrugged, "no."

"If you're not careful I might start to think you're a nice guy," she laughed.

"I am a nice guy," Seifer scoffed. "you are just one of those people that brings out my 'softer' side."

"I'm not the only one?" she laughed. "I thought I was special."

"Ha, no one is," he smirked.

They fell back into the silence that made Seifer uncomfortable. He'd never had to deal with this kind of thing before he didn't like feeling ill prepared. As much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to make her feel better mostly because sad people made him uncomfortable. He didn't see much point in wallowing; he was more in the mindset of "the only way to fix the problem is to do something about it, sitting around won't fix anything."

Sadly in this situation, there wasn't much to do outside of sitting and waiting.

"About what Domino said," Seifer said awkwardly.

"She was just trying to get in your head; I wouldn't read much into it," Alana interrupted.

"Yeah," Seifer sighed.

* * *

Hours later they arrived outside Deling city limits, Laguna and all the injured SeeDs and cadets were taken to the hospital. Laguna was rushed into surgery. Seifer and Alana departed Garden shortly after to stay with Laguna. Zell stayed behind, not sure what he should do.

Zell felt like he should go with Alana and Seifer and meet up with Aliesie later on but he also felt obligated to stay with Garden and go after Domino like he'd been trained to do. Either way, he might end up facing off with Domino again, but with SeeD, he'd have more resources at his disposal.

He decided his best option would be to talk to Squall about it. Zell wanted someone else to look at the situation and give him advice on what to do; Squall was the only one he knew who could be objective.

When he got to Squall's office, he didn't even take notice that Squall wasn't there before he started talking. He'd gotten through all he needed to say before realizing he wasn't talking to Squall but Quistis.

"Where's Squall?" he asked.

"Gone," she answered, organizing papers on the desk.

"Where?" he asked.

"Don't know, he wouldn't say," she explained.

"When will he be back?" Zell sighed.

"He didn't say," Quistis shrugged. "All he said was he wouldn't put Garden at risk by keeping Rinoa here, so he left and put me in charge."

"So what's gonna happen now?" he asked.

"For now, Garden will be coming up with a strategy to take Domino down," she explained pushing herself out of what was now her chair. "That will take some time so, for now, we're staying put here, far away from Esthar. Knowing where she is has given us a small amount of security, I've spoken to Carraway, and he agreed to keep an eye on Esthar for now and alert us to any movement."

"What should I do?" Zell asked.

He didn't want just to sit and wait. He wanted to take action but that was risky, Domino was unpredictable. So much so that Squall didn't even want to risk what she might do, that alone was unsettling.

"If you want to leave I won't stop you or anyone else for that matter," she answered. "In fact, I was just about to make an announcement on that subject. I won't force anyone who doesn't want to be involved in this to fight."

"That's awfully generous of you considering this is a mercenary school," Zell chuckled.

"Most of the students who enrolled recently did so for the education, not to be cannon fodder," Quistis explained. "No one expected a third sorceress war."

"I guess you're right," Zell sighed.

"Considering how conflicted you are you might be better off going with Seifer," Quistis smiled.

"I never expected to agree with that kind of statement," Zell laughed.

"Good luck dealing with him," she chuckled.

* * *

Time passed slowly with no update on Laguna. The surgery was taking longer than expected which left Alana unsettled. She spent most of her time in the hospital pacing the waiting room with Seifer telling her repeatedly to sit down. She never listened but would just glare at him for telling her what to do.

"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Alana asked for the hundredth time in an hour.

"Yes," Seifer sighed angrily.

"You don't need to snap at me; I'm just worried," she scolded.

"You have asked the same question a million times; you're pacing so much you're wearing a path on the floor. Now for the millionth time, sit down and just wait," Seifer snapped.

"I don't want to," she hissed, she wanted to yell but didn't want to cause a scene.

"Sit," he sneered.

She scowled at him for a moment before sitting down in a huff. She crossed her legs and began tapping her nails on the armrest of her seat.

The tapping got louder and faster and started to irritate Seifer more than the pacing. He tried to tune it out for a while, but he couldn't take it. He quickly grabbed her hand to silence the tapping which earned him another dark look.

"You need to calm down," Seifer muttered.

"I can't," Alana sighed, "also, don't tell me what to do."

"I don't see why you're so worried, you and I both know he is in the best hands outside of Esthar," he said, trying his best to comfort her if only for his sanity. "Not only that, you once told me he survived falling off a cliff and breaking nearly every bone in his body."

"That was a long time ago," Alana whispered.

"And I'm pretty sure he's just as strong now as he was back then," Seifer replied.

Alana nodded, surrendering to logic. She still worried just quietly.

Seifer opened his mouth to say something when the door swung open and the doctor appeared. Alana jumped to her feet, quickly forgetting Seifer was there.

"the procedure was a success," the doctor announced.

Alana hadn't realized she was holding her breath till she let out a sigh of relief.

They had to do more than they initially realized. A metal plate was put in Laguna's skull, several pins were placed in his legs and arms, and some nerves were reattached. He would survive, but he would likely never regain a full range of motion. Thankfully as far as they could tell he suffered no brain damage.

They were permitted to see him but told he would be unresponsive for quite some time. Alana didn't want to see him that way. She was happy knowing he would recover.

"So what do we do now?" Seifer asked.

"I wish I knew," Alana shrugged. "Knowing Laguna will survive is enough for me right now."

"Yeah, but Domino isn't going to stop," Seifer said crossing his arms.

"I know that," Alana sighed.

Seifer rolled his eyes in frustration and headed for the exit. Alana followed after in silence feeling an overwhelming sense of defeat. She had no plan of action or even a glimmer of an idea. She'd been left without a leg to stand on. For the second time in her life, Domino had made her completely helpless.

When they got to the elevator, Alana let out an exasperated sigh, waiting for the doors to open. When they finally did, they came face to face with Zell.

"Hey guys," he said in surprise. "Hows Laguna?"

"He'll live," Seifer answered, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, I want to go with you guys to go after Domino," Zell replied.

"No," Seifer said flatly.

"Seifer," Alana scolded. "Thank you, Zell, we appreciate the offer."

"You can't come with us," Seifer said.

"Yes, you can," Alana said.

"No," Seifer repeated.

"So what's your plan?" Zell asked ignoring Seifer.

"We don't have one at the moment," Alana answered quietly.

"Good, because I have one," Zell replied slightly excited.

"Don't care," Seifer said, "you're not coming."

"Seifer! You are not in charge," Alana yelled. "What is your plan, Zell?"

Zell waited to see if Seifer would let him talk before finally speaking.

"We find Odine and get him to figure out how to stop Domino," Zell said enthusiastically.

"how do you propose we do that?" Seifer asked wryly.

"Seifer," Alana sighed, rubbing her temples. "Just, stop it. Zell, thank you, that's a fantastic idea. The problem is we don't know where to start looking for him."

"There's good news then; Laguna had garden keep tabs on him. The last report says he's somewhere in Trabia," Zell explained.

"Where in trabia? It's a big country," Seifer said dryly.

"It's a start," Alana said with a smile.

Her mood changed drastically from distraught to hopeful, and it didn't escape Seifer's notice. He kept his mouth shut; it was the only lead they had. He boarded the elevator in silence and headed to the lobby alone while Zell and Alana kept talking. Someone had to get supplies for going to Trabia.

* * *

His body felt heavy, his mouth was dry, and something uncomfortable stuck in his nose. He tried to move his arms to take it out but he couldn't. He groggily opened his eyes; the room was dark enough that the light didn't hurt. He tried moving his head to look around, but that was stuck in place as well.

He groaned as his eyes shifted to look around the room. He was in the hospital. That was a relief, but he didn't like not knowing what happened.

 _"_ _Oh good, you're awake."_

That voice. Domino.

"Wh-why," Laguna tried to speak, but his throat was to dry.

 _"_ _Don't worry darling, I'm not there with you,"_ she laughed, _"but don't think you are safely out of my reach."_

Laguna started to panic making his heart monitor beep louder. He looked around the room as best he could and as far as he could tell he was completely alone. It wasn't much of a relief considering she only needed to be in his head to do damage.

 _"_ _You may think I'm a monster,"_ she sighed. _"But as you know, your son made his choice."_

Laguna knew from the moment he heard Domino make Squall an offer that Rinoa would be the one he chose. It was an outcome that Laguna had accepted. He took some comfort in the fact that Squall tried to save him.

 _"_ _I'm even feeling somewhat merciful since I've already had my fun with you,"_ she chuckled. _"Goodnight, Mr. President."_

* * *

 _Laguna didn't know what she was going to do, but he felt himself drift back into the abyss he'd fallen into before. It was only for a second, his eyes snapped back open, but he wasn't in the hospital room anymore._

 _It was unmistakable, the smell of the cool summer air, the grass, the flowers, he was home in Winhill. The stars twinkled in the sky and the moon shone brightly overhead, there was something familiar about it. He felt something in his hand; he looked down to see a ring in his palm._

 _"Laguna?"_

 _Her voice made him jump; he quickly spun around to face her. She was as beautiful as ever, her smile, her eyes. He hadn't realized how much he missed her all those years till this moment._

 _"Raine," he murmured with a quick wave._

 _"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" she asked with a smile._

 _"Oh, nothing," he said quickly turning around._

 _"Laguna—"_

 _She started to speak but was interrupted when he turned back and put the ring on her finger. She was stunned as she looked at the ring Laguna could see the tears forming in her eyes when he showed her the matching ring on his finger. She smiled brightly and threw her arms around him._

 _"I love you, Raine," he whispered. "Let's go home."_

* * *

Alana didn't know what to do or say. She sat in silence as the car rumbled down the bumpy road, Seifer sat next to her in the back seat, Zell in the driver's seat with Aliesie next to him.

He was supposed to recover. That thought kept repeating in her head over the past few days ever since the hospital called to give her the news. No one believed it was truly complications from surgery that caused it. Everyone knew the truth; no one wanted to say it.

"Not far now," Zell announced.

Alana had never been to Winhill; she wished it was under better circumstances, but fate had other plans.

Everything about the service passed in a blur, Alana was grateful that it wasn't anything big it meant fewer people to deal with and not having to lie about what killed him. Everyone there already knew.

He was gone. Alana didn't know what to do, what was she supposed to say to Aliesie? It was easier last time she buried a man she loved; then her child was just a baby who didn't even know what was happening. Aliesie was an adult who knew full well what happened.

"You ready to go?" Seifer asked. Alana jumped when he nudged her arm.

"Give me a minute," she answered. Everyone else had already headed back up the hill, Seifer nodded and started back up the hill leaving her alone next to his grave.

"Hey, Laguna," she began but wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to say. He always said he wanted to be buried with Raine when he died, Alana fulfilled that wish.

"So, you're gone," she suppressed the urge to cry. "The last few days I've been thinking about a lot of different things. I never thought I would get a second chance after Kaz died. I figured I was done; then I met you. I never dreamed I could love again, I placed my bet, and you came through for me. I still lost, though; I always seem to."

She had to take a moment to compose herself.

"Thank you, Laguna. Also fuck you, for making me think life might be fair. I don't regret anything about our life together is over and I'll always love you," she couldn't fight the tears anymore. "Take care of our idiot Raine," she choked before turning to leave.

"You ok?" Seifer asked, meeting her halfway up.

"I will be," she answered with a shaky voice. "Are you ready for another adventure?" she choked out a laugh.

"I don't work for free," he smiled wryly.

"Oh? What are your demands?" Alana asked.

"I require a boat," Seifer answered.

"Why do you want a boat?" Alana chuckled.

"You seem to have misheard, I said, require, it's a synonym for need. I need a boat," Seifer said crossing his arms.

"Ok, why do you need a boat?" Alana clarified.

"Pirate stuff," Seifer replied.

"I'm not buying you a boat."

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come along?" Zell asked Aliesie wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

She buried her face into his chest and nodded.

"It'll be a while before I can come back to see you," he said stroking her hair.

"I know," she whispered. "But I'll just get in the way if I come along."

He couldn't argue with her logic. It was better that she stay behind, but he didn't like it all the same.

After this, it was straight to Trabia for who knows how long. He wanted more time with her, she'd just lost her father, and he wanted to be with her.

He sighed and rested his cheek on top of her head. He caught a glimpse of Seifer and Alana heading back up the hill. He didn't have much time left with her.

"Marry me," he blurted.

She tensed in surprise before pulling away from him. The shock was evident on her face.

"What?" she asked.

"Marry me," he repeated confidently.

"Ok," she nodded quietly.

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her, " I love you," he whispered.

"I know," she replied. "I love you too."

The ride back to the town square was as quiet as the ride to the gravesite. It was a different kind of silence; it was a comfortable silence. Hopeful.

They still had a long journey ahead of them. They lacked resources and manpower, but they made up for it in determination to make the world a better place. The road ahead was going to be challenging, but they wouldn't back down.

The end

* * *

Yes, this is where it ends I'm sorry it isn't happier but this is where it felt natural to finish. I plan on writing a sequel eventually but as of right now that's a long way down the road. Thank you to everyone who had reviewed so far and every one who has favorite and followed this story. A special thanks to Siobhane for supporting this story since the beginning and even beta reading a few chapters, you are and Silentstarlightsky are the ones I kept it going for.

Its not my best but it is my first published fanfiction and after almost a year and a half its finally finished. Thank you, everyone!

This chapter was inspired by the song Always starting over from the musical If/Then and some lyrics were included in the dialogue.


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